


Evil Behind the Mask

by Debby_Gold



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Advanced Tech, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Divided States, M/M, leakira - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-02 00:03:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17253878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Debby_Gold/pseuds/Debby_Gold
Summary: The year is 2105.  In the year 2033, a technological advancement in the States erupted, and caused the States to split.  Some states merged together, while others remained as they were.  Each territory became its own country, but all maintained a governmental structure similar to that of the United States.The world has become technologically advanced, and simple everyday technology consists of hover-tech, holo-tech, android-tech, and AI tech.Recently, various gangs and undercover criminals are suddenly being targeted by an unknown threat, framed, and thrown onto the Garrison Police Dept. wanted list - Including the unstoppable tag-team, Leakira.





	1. Two Normal Boys with Two Normal Jobs

“It looks like it could use an oil change in addition to the hover-tech and lights I mentioned earlier,” Leandro said to the customer in front of him, who was eagerly awaiting for a summary of her hovercar. “Other than that, the car is in tip-top shape!” 

“Do you have a cost estimate?” The customer asked, a dark haze clouding her eyes. Leandro knew that look; no one liked cost estimates. No one liked spending money on this stuff. But at the same time, they wanted to drive, so put two and two together and the outcome was always the same: A visit to Jerry’s Auto. A very plain name, yes, but very well-known. 

In his honest, unbiased opinion, Leandro would say that good ol’ Jerry’s was the best auto shop in the State. Akira thought so, too, and Akira could be a real snob, especially when it came to his hoverbike. God, could he be a snob.

“Well, I’d say around one grand for the hover-tech alone. There’s some damage there, and hover-tech isn’t cheap to begin with. Then an extra… maybe hundred for the rest?” Leandro said, going down the list of issues written on the paper clipped to his clipboard.

“Eleven grand?” The woman exclaimed. “You’ve got to be kidding me! Who has that kind of money?”

Leandro took a breath, struggling not to laugh at her stupidity. “Ma’am, you bought the hovercar, you should know what you would pay for repairs, no?” He replied in his kindest, least-snarky tone. Oh, how he wished to tease the woman for her cluelessness. But at the same time, he wanted to keep his job - or at least his day job.

She stared blankly at him. “You’ve… got a point,” She nodded. “Fine. Let me know what the final cost is once the work is done,” She commanded with a flair, springing back from her mistake faster than a hoverbike. _Women._

“Yes, Ma’am,” Leandro replied with a deep bow, to which he received a giggle from the surrounding customers. Flirting was his thing. No matter where he was or what the situation was - well, _almost_ no matter what the situation was - Leandro never failed to hit a lady with a cheesy pickup line, a flirty smile, or a compliment. The best part? His boss encouraged it. It was a good way to draw in customers, both through amusement and for being flirted with, and it kept good spirits between staff members. Leandro loved it. A win-win situation, right?

“Good,” The woman said with a smile, but her tone still demanding. “Give me call when my car is done.” 

“Will do!” Leandro replied cheerfully. “See you soon, Ma’am!”

The woman left with a laugh for a response. No sooner than Leandro turned around did a muscular arm come down around his shoulders, knocking him off-balance. “You done good, Leo!” 

"Wha- Boss!” Leandro exclaimed as he steadied himself. “What’re you doin’ here? Didn’t you have some fancy meeting to go to today?”

“Yeah, but it was dealt with real quick,” the boss said as he let the poor boy out of his strong grip. “Looks like you were making a new friend?”

“Acquaintance.” Leandro corrected with a sarcastic serious face. “Best not to mix it up. I have room in my heart for only one lover.” 

“Oh, you mean that kid, Akira?” 

“I was thinking my toolbox, but Akira works too,” Leandro smarted, which got him a rough hair-ruffle.

“Alright, ya player,” The boss said playfully, releasing his hair and turning to go into the ‘employees only’ area of the shop. 

The area was a down-right lounge. In one corner of the room, there was a table for tinkering with parts. On the other side, there was an entire area sectioned off for couches, a holo-vision, and a gaming set. There was also a mini-kitchen for snacks. There was a closet and different shelves for the employees’ stuff, and a manager’s office entrance near the kitchen. It was a pretty dang cool place.

Mitchell, Sydney, and Justin, three of Leandro’s fellow staff members, were delved in a game of the classic Mario Kart, a game that still lived on after so many years. How? No one knew. Karol was making something on the stove, and Henry was working on some new trinket in the tinkering corner.

Leandro went over to the cubbies, which always reminded him of preschool, and grabbed his stuff - a messenger bag with various items and his now melted iced latte, which he tossed into the garbage. “I’m heading out for the day!” He called.

“Bye, Leo,” came the unanimous reply. 

“Man, the only one who sounds like they actually take my existence into consideration is Karol. Let’s try that again, shall we?” Leandro said with a grin, which got him several eyerolls and a laugh. 

“Dude,” Justin said as he paused the game, immediately followed by complaining from the other two. “We said bye, just get outta here.”

Leandro shook his head. “Tsk tsk tsk. My dear Justin Bieber -” 

“My name is Connell.” Justin snapped.

“Justin Bieber,” Leandro repeated with a smirk, “you must say a proper farewell to a friend. Now, let's try again, shall we? Goodbye, everyone!”

“Goodbye, Leandro,” said everyone but Justin, who, if the boss hadn't come out of his office, probably would've flashed Leandro a finger.

Leandro laughed. “Almost there, guys! we'll work on proper farewells again tomorrow.” 

“Get the quiznak out of here already!” Sydney yelled at him, already continuing the previously paused game of Mario Kart.

“Alright, alright, see you blockheads tomorrow!” Leandro said cheerfully, leaving the room just as he heard Justin shout “blockheads? Get back here you-”

Leandro shut the door with a laugh. They loved him, but they wouldn't admit it. 

He headed out of the shop, glancing at the hovercars in the ‘employees only’ lot. He didn't have a hovercar, those were way too expensive for him, and they were giant, floating hunks of garbage. They were overrated. 

So Leandro would walk to the famous Jupiter Cafe, known best for their 'Out-Of-This-World’ Lattes, coffee, and mochas. They weren't wrong; their stuff was awesome, but it was always better Akira Kogane made it. Akira was one of the reasons the cafe got so much business; he was pretty dang hot. And when a hot waiter makes you good coffee, you're going to want to go back.

And Leandro had no problems with that. Every afternoon at two, when his shift ended, he'd walk to the cafe to meet up with Akira after his shift ended at three, and then they'd go home together. Just two normal boys with two normal jobs. Pretty chill system. 

Leandro took his usual route: he took the subway a couple stops to the downtown area, then walked past the mall, the superstore, and the different government offices that dotted the area, through the park, and to the large building where, on the ground floor, stood the famous Jupiter Cafe.

The door jingled as Leandro entered. The place was packed as usual, people at every table, and even more people standing in line to order. Leandro couldn't see anyone behind the counter, but he could hear the familiar voice above all others. 

He got in line, standing behind a mother and her daughter, who was listing things that she saw on the menu that she wanted to her mother, who was absently listening and most likely doing math in her head as she stared at the menu board.

Leandro moved forward in line by a step when he heard someone call out “Sanchez!” He whipped around in the direction of the voice and laid his eyes on the manager of the cafe.  
“Mrs. Aurora!” Leandro called back, grinning. “How are you?” 

The middle-aged woman walked up to him and gave him a hug. “Fine, thank you! How is everything by you? Is Bill giving you trouble?”

“Nah, the boss is good.” Leandro said with a laugh. Mrs. Aurora was probably the nicest woman he’d ever met. She always smiled, she gave off some seriously good vibes, and she had a solution to almost every problem. She reminded Leandro of his mother, who, with the rest of his family, were residents in the next State over and couldn’t afford to move to New York.

Back in the 2030s, the country broke apart over the invention of new technology, including hover-tech, holo-tech, android-robo tech, and AI-tech. The states broke apart into individual countries, some states combining territories. Each new country, still called States, had, and has to this day, a political and governmental system like the United States once did. 

But to go from one State to another, you needed special papers and documents, as well as to pay fees and go through the long process of getting the ‘Ok’ from both, or all, states you were going to and coming from. Airplane rides to different states were probably a nightmare.

“You’re here for Akira, I presume?” Mrs. Aurora asked, breaking Leandro’s thoughts.

“Aren’t I always?” Leandro replied with a smile, receiving a laugh.

“Never coming to say hi to the rest of us, eh?” Mrs. Aurora chuckled, giving Leandro a light punch to the shoulder.

“Next!” A voice called, and Leandro knew that voice like the contents of his toolbox. “I said next!”

“My apologies, kind prince, heaven forgive me for keeping you waiting.” Leandro stalked up to the counter. 

Akira rolled his violet eyes - Oh God, they were gorgeous - and gave Leandro a look. “What’s it gonna be? Mocha? Latte?”

“Hm. I would like.. A beautiful boy to end his shift and take me home with him.” Leandro gave him a wink, and several customers and employees giggled.

“Leandro, seriously. Are you going to buy anything?” Akira said, folding his arms across his chest.

“Your heart.” Leandro said with a smirk. More giggles followed.

“Sorry, we’re all out. Want something else instead?” 

What a sneaky sneak. “Fine. Two medium hazelnut lattes.” Leandro said with a mock disappointed tone.

“Alrighty, do you want those iced?” Akira smirked as he tapped the screen of the register.

“Whatever you want.” Leandro sulked. 

“Iced, then,” Akira tapped a couple more times on the screen. “To-go?”

“Yeah.”

“That’ll be eight sixty four,” Akira said, looking up at him.

“Eight sixty four? You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s overpriced,” Leandro exclaimed with a joking tone.

“Leo, you’re holding up the line,” Akira frowned. “Please pay for the drinks.”

Leandro handed him money. “Anything for you, my one, true love.”

“Go find a table and your drinks will be brought to you,” Akira said without reacting to Leandro’s flirting.

“Ouch, rejected,” Leandro put a hand on his heart and sniffed. “My heart has been broken.” 

There were more giggles from the surrounding crowd, and Akira rolled his eyes as he proceeded to help the next customer.

As he walked away from the ordering counter, a quick look at the clock told him that he had five minutes before Akira was out. Out with him and the tea he’d bought. Then they’d go back to their apartment together on Akira’s hoverbike. Very romantic.

Leandro found a stool at the counter by the window, and sat down. He shifted around to look at Akira, an average-height kid in his early 20s with violet eyes, and black hair in a mullet. The mullet drove Leandro crazy. It looked weird, and he swore that it should be illegal for a guy to look good in long hair. Not only did Akira pull it off, he made it look hot. Like, really hot. 

He was thin, but he had build - unlike Leandro, tall and stick skinny. And those eyes, oh, those beautiful eyes. You could just get lost in-

“Ah, these are for you! To-go, right?” A voice suddenly cut off his thoughts, and Leandro jumped. 

In front of him stood Jenny, a waitress at the cafe, “You wanted two iced hazelnut lattes to go, right?” She asked with an anxious tone. 

Poor Jenny was always afraid of messing up on the job. She was so adorably innocent, it was almost heart-wrenching.

“Yeah, that’s me. Thanks, Jenny!” Leandro said with a smile, and Jenny let go of all of the breath she’d been holding in.

“Okay, good. I didn’t mess up,” the poor girl breathed with relief. “Akira just ended his shift, he should be coming out any minute! By the way, that was really funny, what you did back at the register,” she giggled. 

“Oh, I was being very serious.” Leandro said with a deadpan expression.

“Uh huh, the way you grinned, I highly doubt that,” said a new voice from behind him, and Leandro turned around.

“Akira!” He grinned. “And for the record, I was being very serious. I was smiling.”

“Mhm,” Akira said with a smirk. “You ready to go?” He grabbed one of the lattes.

“Wha- yeah, but don’t take that!”

“Too late.”

“I hate you.”

“Nah, you love me.”

“.... True,” Leandro admitted. “Thanks, Jenny. Bye Mrs. Aurora!” He shouted to the manager, who waved back. “See you around, Sanchez!”

He and Akira left the cafe, and went around back to the alley, where Akira kept his hoverbike next to all of the other employees’ vehicles. 

“Hop on,” Akira said as he got on the bike. “Feel like wearing a helmet?”

“Eh, nah, I’m good. My knight in shining armor will save me if I fall,” Leandro said with a smirk, receiving the third eyeroll in the last fifteen minutes.

“Alright there, loverboy,” Akira said, checking the mirrors and monitors on the hoverbike.

“I’m not-” Leandro began, but was cut off by the sudden revving of the engine. Before Leandro could say anything, Akira sped out of the alley into traffic.

They raced through the streets at a speed Leandro swore would someday get them arrested for going, vehicles, lights, people, and places whizzing by in a blur. They eventually reached their apartment complex, and parked in the private parking at the side. 

As they entered the building, Leandro waved to the lady, Rosa, who was always behind the security desk. “Hola, Rosa!” 

“Hola, Leandro! How was work today?” Rosa perked up immediately as she heard his voice.

“It was great! How’s your day been? It must have been amazing, no? Truly fit for a lady as beautiful as you,” Leandro said with a gentlemanly smile.

“Just go up to your apartment with Akira already,” Rosa chuckled, getting up and summoning the elevator for them.

“Yes, Ma’am. Have a lovely afternoon!” Leandro said as he stepped inside with Akira, who cuffed him over the head once the doors closed. “Hey, what-”

“Aren’t I your boyfriend?” Akira asked with a pout, but he looked pretty serious about it.

“You can’t be serious. You really think I would actually date a woman as old as Rosa? She’s, like, a hundred years old!” Leandro stared at him in disbelief. 

“... No, I just...” Akira blushed, looking desperately for words as Leandro laughed.

“I can’t believe you! For someone who rejects my flirting, you get awfully jealous when I give up and flirt with someone else.”

“I’m not jealous,” Akira retorted defensively. “I just…”

“Are jealous,” Leandro finished for him as the elevator doors opened, and left the lift before Akira could keep fighting.

“For the record, your driving is terrible,” Leandro complained as they entered the apartment. He was greeted by the smell of fried food from yesterday’s dinner, fried chicken. It smelled good, to be honest.

“Hey, my driving is no worse than your pickup lines,” Akira retorted, closing the door and tossing the keys onto the table as he took off his sneakers.

“My pickup lines are amazing!” Leandro pouted as he flopped down onto the couch. “Even Rosa thinks so, and she’s ten times older than me. You just won’t admit it.”

“There’s nothing to admit,” Akira smirked, sitting down next to him.

Between the two of them, there was silence, but for the soft sound of breathing. Akira leaned onto Leandro, and they sat there like that. Leando cast Akira a glance to see if he was asleep, which he wasn’t, but he still looked adorable.

“Aw, thanks, Leo,” Akira smiled, looking up at him, and Leandro realised his thoughts had become words. 

“Ah- I mean you’re adequate,” Leandro quickly said as his face flushed, and he looked away.

“Heh. You ready for tonight’s op?” Akira asked, getting up. Leandro felt a sense of loss when Akira’s warm body left his side, but he shoved the feeling away.

“We have an- oh yeah, for that guy who used to be friends with a wealthy business owner.”

“Yeah, that’s him. We’re grabbing a family heirloom that said business man stole as debt repayment,” Akira reminded him. “We’re heading out at nine.”

“So…” Leandro looked at the clock, “about five hours.”

“Yup. What do you want for dinner? We have plenty of time before prep, so I can cook something up?” Akira asked, heading into the kitchen.

“Oh yum, am I allowed to help this time?” Leandro asked as he got up. 

“Nope, you’re going to contact our client and set things in stone. I don’t trust you in the kitchen anyway,” Akira called back.

“Hmph. I want chilli and tacos,” Leandro huffed as he went over to the table to open the laptop.

“Sounds good. I’ll cook, you contact, we’ll eat, then prep. Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Leandro agreed as he opened up laptop and found the platform to review the op, and the sound of clattering kitchenware sounded from the kitchen.

Tonight was going to be another adventurous night.

\------

The sound of skin against paper was the only sound that could be heard in the silent, dark room. The file holder opened smoothly, the papers inside shuffling with the proceeding wind and gravity’s pull. 

A pale finger ran down the list of names on the paper on top, some stricken through with a line of red ink, and the rest left untouched. Eyes glinted behind a mask in the dark lighting of the room, as a finger stopped next to a certain name.

Senator Admore. Yes, that was his next target. His next victim. 

The sound of a knock on the door shattered his moment of excitement, and he had no need to answer. His assistant Sylvia entered the room, and she bowed her head to him. “Overlord, preparations are complete.”

“The file was sent to West?” He asked slowly, his voice slurring.

“Yes, Sir. It is currently, nine o’clock, would you like me to give the order to begin?”

A smiled curled his lips, and his eyes glinted brighter in the small amount of light from the dim lamp on his desk, his mask dully lit by the direct light. “You may begin.”

Tonight, his plan would take one step further towards his goal, his plot, his master plan. Nothing would stand in his way. For he was the Overlord; who could possibly challenge his power?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *airhorns blow* First story on AO3! Whoop!  
> Let's start the new year off right, yeah? Introducing my lovely new Voltron fanfic, based in the widely popular world of Leakira. This fic was based on the gorgeous art piece by @zeraciii on Instagram of their own Leakira AU twist, which I'll post the link for at the bottom (I'm not sure how to give individual words or phrases links so if you know, please help this helpless bean XD). I absolutely adored the art, and the moment I saw it I though 'dang, this would make a great story!'  
> And what do you know, here we are, with chapter one of Evil Behind the Mask! I did some serious planning, and to be honest I haven't written down summaries of every chapter yet. But I do plan of having about 20 chapters (Yeah, it's pretty long) and a whole lot of words, so get ready for some heavy reading XD  
> Anyway, I hope that Zera likes this story, and I did name a character after them so look out for that! (Hint: she's already appeared in this chapter, but under another name :D (Leave a comment with a guess!))  
> Don't hesitate to drop a comment with theories, guesses, compliments, and even criticism. And leave a kudos (which between binging on IcyPanther's fanfics and Fandom Wiki I've come to understand that these are the equivalent of likes) if you like what you read!  
> I'm working on a cover picture, so keep a lookout for that! I plan on updating this at least once a week, depending on how much writing I can get done.  
> Link to Zera's picture: https://www.instagram.com/p/BronE-OA2Az/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=yrdq04r7l6mx


	2. "It Would Be Easy," They'd Said

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight blood warning towards the middle of the chapter. It's nothing too explicit, but it may put a picture in your head. It lasts about five or six sentences, of which none are especially long, but please be warned.

A siren wailed in the distance as the two criminals-for-hire, the duo known as Leakira, broke into the building that their target was located inside of. 

All floors but the top were either business or entertainment-related, while the top floor was the building owner’s ‘stay at work all-nighter apartment’ floor.

Akira, his long hair tied back in a ponytail, stood guard with a blaster at the ready while Leandro hacked the electronic lock of the rooftop stairwell entrance. 

With the moon at full size above them, and with the city lights shining below, there was plenty of light for Akira to be able to see Leandro on one knee, tinkering with the wires of the lock. Leandro’s brown hair took on a silvery hue in the moonlight, and his trademark jacket - with its high collar, elbow-length sleeves, long length, and unique design - fanned out behind him in the wind, which was a bit on the strong side that night.

“Got it,” Leandro said through his face mask, and the electric door opened with a soft hiss.

“Perfect,” Akira smiled as Leandro took the lead and headed down the stairs, and he followed suit. The electric door sealed shut behind them. 

Akira lifted his hand up to play with the charm on his choker, a nervous habit. It wasn’t unusual for him to feel nervous while the two of them were performing an op. There was an endless number of things that could possibly go wrong, endless ways for them to-

Akira shook his head, shoving the thought aside. None of that would happen. Not tonight. He would make sure of it.

Leandro started working with the lock on the door that opened up to the top floor. Akira watched as Leandro’s long, thin fingers delicately moved about the tangle of wires. The wires, that with one wrong move, could seal their demise.

 _Stop thinking like that,_ he repeated to himself firmly. Leandro was good at his work, and he surely wouldn’t get them killed. 

There was a click as the door unlocked, and Leandro pulled out a blaster as Akira came forward. With a nod, Akira opened the door, raising his blaster, Leandro right behind him. 

What was past the door... Akira didn’t know what to think.

The place was ridiculous. There was a full bar, a kitchen, a lounge, something that resembled a miniature dance floor, and a set of stairs that led up to a balcony. The walls up there were lined with shelves full of books, like a library of sorts. 

The two of them spread out, cautiously checking behind doors for any threats, and for their target

As he checked what appeared to be a giant bathroom, Akira went over details in his head. They were looking for a family heirloom that had been stolen from their client as debt repayment. The man who stole the heirloom was a very wealthy businessman and politician, as well as a former friend of their client.

Akira left the gargantuan bathroom, and tried the next door over. He cracked it open, peering inside to see what looked like a bedroom. 

To his luck, there was no one in the room. He opened the door the rest of the way and stepped inside.

Akira began a search around the room for the heirloom. He found pictures, diaries, birthday cards, letters from random businesses, and merchandise like pins, lens cleaners, and little stuffed animals. He found strange looking statues, works of art, and a whole lot of stored cash and weapons. How the quiznak was this man not in prison?

Akira stopped in front of three side-to-side cabinets set in gold on a marble base. 

The cabinet on the left had strange objects resting in holds. Some were white balls with a red braid-like pattern, some looked like leather versions of mechanical gauntlets. There were two objects that resembled rounded staffs with hilts. Other objects being displayed were black and white balls with peculiar geometric patterns, brown oval-shaped balls with points at each end, orange balls with black lines, and so many more, all lined up in the gold cabinet. All of the objects had writing on them, most likely being signatures.

The cabinet on the right held jewelry and other accessories all made of precious gems and metals. What a show-off this man was.

The cabinet in the middle was covered by a red velvet curtain in the front, with golden drawstrings with tassels on either side.

He pulled back the red velvet curtains, and among all of the other stupidly expensive trinkets this man had, he found the object they were looking for; a beautiful gold ring studded with hundreds of tiny jewels, of which no two were alike. No wonder their client wanted the ring back.. 

Akira, using a cloth, proceeded to carefully open the glass door of the cabinet after unlocking it with a pin, making sure not to leave any scratches or fingerprints on the glass or the gold. 

As Akira wrapped the ring in the cloth and placed it in a supply pouch at his side, Leandro called his name. Either Leandro knew that the apartment was empty, or wasn’t thinking about it.

“Leandro,” Akira started as he left the bedroom, “we’re supposed to be silent. Thank your lucky stars that no one is here right now.”

“Akira, look at this,” Leandro answered, his voice unsteady, and seemingly ignoring Akira’s words.

Akira entered the room Leandro was in, a study of some sort. It was fairly small and plain compared to the rest of the rooms, but on the desk was a file that Leandro had supposedly opened. Leandro was staring at the paper on top with a horrified expression.

“Leandro?” Akira tentatively called his name, brow furrowing in concern. “What’s wrong?”

“Look,” came the quiet whisper of an answer.

Akira approached Leandro’s side and looked down at the paper, a sharp inhale catching in his throat.

In thick black lettering, the words ‘Targets to Eliminate’ were printed onto the paper. Beyond those three words, in smaller font, were columns of names; the names of people and the names of groups. Some were stricken through with red ink, and others were left as they’d been printed. 

As his eyes followed the columns, his gaze came to rest on two names that were all too familiar to him, two names that had yet to be crossed off: 

Akira Kogane  
Leandro Sanchez

Leandro was more than likely looking at the same two names, considering his expression. “What… What _is_ this?”

“Now is not the time,” Akira said after a moment of silent staring. He was anxious to know what the file was for as well, but they were running out of time. Before either of them could look at the next page, Akira quickly closed the file holder that the papers were inside of. 

The top of the file holder was labeled “Highly Classified”. There was a slip of paper clipped to the cover, the name Samuel West written on it. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but Akira gave it no mind as he led Leandro out of the room. “We need to leave before we get caught.” 

“R-right,” Leandro agreed, shaking his head to clear it.

Akira stopped short once they exited the study, clenching his jaw as he resisted the urge to punch the wall. Every time he thought things were going good, something happened and suddenly the two of them were in danger. Without fail, _every time_ Akira thought that things would go as planned, fate decided to change its plans. He sent a curse up towards whoever was controlling his life, because the moment they left the study, they came face to face with a security guard. 

_Quiznak._

“Well, so much for not being caught,” Leandro sighed behind him.

Akira got the feeling that fate just wasn’t on their side that day. The security guard already had a weapon drawn, so guess who got first shot?

Not the two of them, that was for sure.

The security guard, just as expected, took advantage of his headstart and fired a shot. Akira’s quick reflexes allowed him to dodge easily, and Leandro wasn’t in line of fire at all. For the moment, at least. The blast hit an expensive vase instead, a loud crash sounding as is shattered into a million pieces, scattering in a wide circle around the original position of the vase.

They wasted no time, making a dash for the door to the stairs. Apparently the guard the guard had some common sense in him, because he fried the handle of the stairwell door before the two of them could get to it. Well, how lovely. 

Next best options? Down the elevator to a lower floor, or out the window.

Akira bit his lip out of frustration. Thinking about it rationally in the small fragment of time he had, the elevators were less likely to kill them. However, there was likely a camera in the elevator, which could be used to uncover their identities. Red was on the roof, but if Akira managed to hit the button on his bracelet that Leandro had installed, then Red would catch them and-

Leandro made the decision for him as he dragged Akira to the elevator, drawing the blaster at his side and returning fire while Akira scrambled to wildly press the ‘close doors’ button. Leandro slammed the button to go to two floors below them as soon as he could stop shooting at the guard.

Akira turned to Leandro as he drew his dagger from its sheath on his lower back. “What were you thinking? The elevator was the worst possible choice!”

“I’m not jumping down twenty stories with the low chance we would be saved by Red, and an even lower chance of Red actually supporting us at the speed we would be moving and force we would cause at impact!” Leandro snapped back as he blasted the camera in the corner of the small space. 

Before Akira could continue the argument, the elevator doors opened again. The two of them made a mad dash for the entrance to the stairs, weaving through several box offices and around desks. The shout of another security guard and blaster shots followed them as they ran.

Akira whipped open the door as he charged into the stairwell, Leandro following suit, stopping briefly only to turn and fire a blast at the guard who was hot on their heels. He hit his mark square in the chest, and the last Akira saw of the guard before the door closed between them was the body that crumpled to the ground lifelessly.

As they charged up the stairs, Akira's mind began to churn. “Finding the ring will be simple,” he recalled their client saying to them. “Get the ring and get out. There's very little security on that floor, so it would be easy,” they'd said. Really, now? Akira smiled grimly as they climbed higher, running circles as they ascended.

The sound of heavy footsteps thundered below them as the two boys practically flew up the last flight of stairs, swinging open the exit door. They emerged onto the roof, quickly engulfed by the cold, windy air.

The door flew open behind them and a guard stepped out, shouting something at them and firing his blaster.

Akira kind of felt bad for what happened next. _Kind of_. The guard had practically asked for it.

While Leandro continued toward Red, Akira doubled back and charged the guard. He pressed the button on the hilt of his dagger, which made the weapon extend into a sword. In one swift movement, Akira jumped and twisted, using the force of his speed and the turn together to rip the sword through the guard’s body, severing it at about the mid-upper arm from the rest of his body.

Blood sprayed across the door and rooftop surface as the wildly fearful eyes of the guard glazed over, and the two halves of his body landed on the roof with a dull thud.

Akira did not hesitate once, swearing to himself he did it to protect Leandro, and again, that the guard had been practically begging for it. He retracted his sword to a knife again, which he sheathed just before jumping onto Red. 

Leandro wrapped his arms securely around Akira’s waist as the engine roared to life, and the two of them were speeding away just as security guards flooded out of the stairwell entrance.

Akira guided the hoverbike through the traffic, his hair being whipped against his face as the wind whistled in his ears. The city lights sped by, a blurred rainbow of color against the darkness of night. 

The words of their client rang in his ears, despite the whistling wind and roaring city noises. “It would be easy.”

He let out a small chuckle as the city whizzed by. If finding a highly classified file with their names on the ‘to be eliminated’ list, getting chased by guards, killing a couple of said guards, and racing through the nighttime traffic of Manhattan, all to get a tiny ring, was _easy,_ then heck, wouldn’t life be a whole lot easier?

 _Fat chance_ , he thought as he guided the bike through a turn. Life being easy was as likely as all of humanity joining together in complete global peace.

And that, unfortunately, wasn't happening any time soon.

Back in their apartment, after trudging up the fire escape in the back of the building where there were no security cameras, Akira flopped onto the couch while Leandro went to the table and sat down.

“You got the ring, right?” Leandro asked. “If we just did all that and flunked the op-”

“I got the ring,” Akira cut him off, digging in his supply pouch and pulling out the cloth with the ring in it. “See?”

“Perfect. I’m telling the client we got the goods,” Leandro answered without once looking up from the laptop.

Akira let out a huge sigh, relaxing on the soft cushions of the couch in the quiet apartment. He began to drift off into sleep until the sound of Leandro closing the laptop jolted him awake.

“Hey, Akira… About that file..” Leandro began, but Akira cut him off.

“We can talk about that thing tomorrow. It’s, what, eleven thirty right now? I know that it’s honestly not that late, but I am _exhausted_ ,” Akira turned his head to face Leandro. “I am in no mental state to talk about-”

He was interrupted by a loud buzz coming from the kitchen.

“That was your phone,” Leandro said to him, turning to look at the kitchen entrance.

“I know,” Akira acknowledged as he stood up and walked into the kitchen where he’d left his phone charging. He tapped the screen of the holo-phone, and a hologram of his phone screen appeared before him.

A notification dot pulsed in the center of the screen. “Katie just blipped me,” He called, holding a finger against the dot and reading the sender’s name.

“What did she say?”

“Looking now,” Akira said as he opened the message.

 _Wondering if you could meet up tomorrow?_  
_The Punks and I have some stuff we need to go_  
_over with you and Lion. It’s very important,_  
_being serious._  
_Katie Holt_

“What did she say?” Leandro repeated, looking at him expectantly.

“She and the rest of ‘em want to meet up tomorrow,” Akira said, looking at the calendar by the entrance to the kitchen. “Which is an off-work day for Innovation Day.”

“Quiznak. I told the gang at the shop I’d teach them how to properly say goodbyes tomorrow,” Leandro frowned. “What time does the gremlin want to meet?”

Akira laughed. “Hang on, I’ll ask,” he said as he tapped the ‘reply’ button.

 _Hello, Gremlin, why are you up so late? A little_  
_girl should get her beauty sleep. Me and Leo_  
_can meet tomorrow, yeah, what time were you_  
_thinking of? I’m planning on taking Leo out for_  
_dinner tomorrow night (that’s a surprise, don’t_  
_tell him), so we could do it over pizza for lunch_  
_at our place maybe? Let me know what you_  
_guys want to do._  
_Akira Kogane._

“Okay,” Leandro said. “I’m going to get ready for bed now, let me know what she says.”

“Will do,” Akira nodded, watching Leandro stand up and trudge over to the bedroom.

Leandro left just as Akira’s phone blipped again. Katie had replied.

 _First off, don’t call me gremlin. I’m not a_  
_gremlin. Or a little girl. Don’t call me that either._  
_Second, sure, that works. We’ll bring pizza if_  
_you get drinks._  
_Katie Holt_

Akira chuckled. He, Leandro, as well as the other members of Katie’s gang all called her gremlin. That, or Pidge, neither of which she enjoyed being called. The rest of them got a laugh out of it, at least.

 _I can call you whatever I want. Any of us can._  
_And sure, we’ll get the drinks if you get pizza._  
_See you tomorrow, short stuff!_  
_Akira Kogane._

Akira put the phone down, a loud yawn escaping his mouth. He was tired, and it was late. His phone buzzed, probably Katie messaging him back. 

He left the phone on the table, ignoring the second buzz, and made his way to the bedroom. After a long, tiresome ten feet of walking, Akira’s violet gaze fell upon Leandro’s sleeping form, an adorable jumble under the blankets. Leandro was out like a light, poor thing. 

Akira got himself ready for bed, and slid under the covers beside Leandro. He rested his head against the pillow, gazing at the tan, freckled face in front of him.

Akira reached out and ran his fingers softly through the brown fluff - it was so _soft_ \- and whispered “goodnight, Leandro.” 

As his eyelids pulled themselves closed, a soft voice replied,

“Goodnight, Akira.”

\------

“It is done, Overlord. The Senator has been eliminated, and that group of children have been set up to be suspected as the killers,” Sylvia said as she entered the room for the second time that night, only hours since her previous entrance.

“Perfect. And what of West?”

“His personal office apartment, the top floor of the Six Hundred Building, was broken into by a pair of male adults. According to witnesses they were likely in their early or mid-twenties,” Sylvia reported. “I had the entire floor examined for traces of evidence, and it appears they took a brief look at the file. They also stole an expensive ring, made of-”

“I have no care for the ring. How much of the file did they read?” He growled, fingers tapping against his desk.

“It appears they only touched the cover of the file holder, so I believe only the top page, one of the pages with names, was read,” Sylvia said, bowing her head to avoid his gaze.

His smile was dark, even as the low light emitting from the lamp on his desk shone directly onto him. His eyes gleamed behind the titanium mask that covered the upper half of his face. They gleamed with a satisfaction, a pleasure only a madman could feel.

“Good,” He said, his smile widening just so. “If they only saw the first paper, then they do not know what I am planning, and therefore do not pose a threat to me.”

“But Sir, if they saw the list of names, then-”

“They are no threat.” He repeated, his raised voice echoing and causing the woman to cower slightly. “For now, I want you to identify these thieves, and keep tabs on them. Should they try anything else, or should I change my mind, I will give you the order to eliminate them. Is that understood?” He turned his chair to look at her directly, her flinch giving him a small amount of satisfaction.

“Yes, Overlord,” Sylvia answered, nodding her head. “I will see to it immediately.”

His assisstant left, closing the door behind her. He turned his chair back to face the desk directly, setting his hands down and opening the file in front of him.

Two children had no power against him. He was an all-powerful man. He had money, loyal followers, allies and resources; two measly wannabes were no match for him. 

He was a ruler, a true king. 

And soon, the world would see it too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to Chapter 2 of Evil Behind the Mask! 
> 
> So I know that I've been making a lot of spelling errors in both the chapters and the notes, we can all thank autocorrect for those. Let's all say thank you, everyone! (Ha, not)
> 
> I worked very hard on this chapter, I went through it like five times for rewording, spelling and grammar corrections, etc, so I think it turned out pretty well. Chapter 3's waiting time may be a little longer, my schedule is going to become busy as heck.
> 
> Still working on cover art, but keep an eye out for that on Instagram!
> 
> I'd like to thank @Rogueangle_16, @Briearo, and the 4 guests that left kudos last chapter, that made me feel really special, so thank you for that!
> 
> I look forward to hearing from people this chapter, so please feel free to ask questions, post comments or concerns, or just drop a kudos! Your support keeps me going!


	3. Let's Talk Business - Over Pizza

The roar of the subway was a mere growl beyond the loud music that separated Leandro from the rest of the world. His sound bits were securely placed in his ears, even with the man sitting next to him, who seemed to have no sense of personal space as he danced to his music, repeatedly ramming into Leandro.

If there were other seats on the subway, he would’ve grabbed one. Unfortunately, at ten o’clock in the morning on Innovation Day, everyone was awake and going places. The subway car was beyond packed.

Innovation Day was the annual commemoration of the day that the States officially split due to the technological advancements of the time. One would think that it would be a sad day, the crumbling of the United States. Well, it wasn’t. It was a holiday, and just like on any holiday, people would party. 

People would go out and drink, go see movies, go to theme parks, do typical holiday activities. But in the evening, the Invention Convention would be held. Hundreds of thousands of people would come to see the new inventions, ideas, and projects of the past year, and some of the varying schools around the State would compete in an inventing competition. 

Leandro personally thought it was a waste of energy, effort, and resources. A giant stadium filled with blinding neon lights, painfully loud music, and sweaty bodies everywhere was not his idea of a good time. And the inventions and stuff students and professionals make for the event were garbage. Leandro knew he could make something better out of a chunk of metal and a tangled mess of wire.

The only reason he liked Innovation day was because it meant more time to spend with friends, especially Akira. They always did something fun together, whether it was as double, triple, or quadruple dates with friends, group events, or just him and Akira. He smiled as he thought about last year’s final activity, when Akira took him to the roof of their apartment complex for wine, home-baked cookies, and fireworks from the Invention Convention. Now, what could be more romantic than that?

The train began to slow to a stop, the automated voice saying “ _Approaching Hudson Boulevard._ ”

That was his stop.

Leandro grabbed the plastic bags that were previously on his lap, at his side, and in front of him, and carried them carefully to the doors. No sooner than when he got there, the train came to a complete stop, and the doors opened for him.

The moment he was off the train, Leandro inhaled deeply. The train must’ve seriously smelled bad, especially if the musty smell of the subway somehow revived his lungs the way fresh air did. 

He continued up the stairs that led back to the world above, to the busy metropolis that Manhattan was. The subway was quiet in contrast to the immediate noise that hit his ears like a speeder, the roaring sounds of traffic, machines, and crowds blurring together.

As he walked down the busy street toward 208 West Hudson Boulevard a block and a half away, he passed by one of the only stores in the city that wasn’t high-tech and still in business Shay’s Flora and Handmade Decor. After a half-second of thought, he walked through the familiar doors.

A string of bells jingled as he opened the door, and soft flute music greeted his ears as the downtown noise faded away with the closing door behind him. Everything seemed to glow in the unusual lighting of the room, plants and flowers of countless species lining tables and shelves, and the fairy lights about the room.

Something about the store was calming and nice, it gave off good vibes. It made you want to come back. No wonder the store was still in business. 

Flowers were really hard to come by if you didn’t live in a rural area. An entire shop full of exotic plants and flowers in the middle of one of the biggest cities in a heavily populated State was pretty convenient. All of the lazy butts who didn’t want to take the maybe twenty-minute train ride to the nearest rural area to get some flowers loved this place. That, and the place was relaxation heaven. Who needs a spa or a zen garden when you have Shay’s flower shop?

“Good morning, sir! How may I help you?” Called a voice from behind the checkout counter.

“Oh, I’m just here to say hi,” Leandro said as he turned around. A grin crossed his face as he saw the familiar blonde hair tied up in its usual strange way, the blue eyes full of mischief, and the make-up coated face of Nyma Miller, one of the long-time employees of Shay’s shop. 

“Leandro!” She said with a grin, coming out from behind the counter and charging into him with a hug. A very, very tight hug. “Did you come to see me?”

“Nyma, I thought we were over that,” Leandro huffed through her embrace.

“You’re such a party-pooper,” she grumbled in response as she let go. “Just because we’re over with doesn’t mean I’ve let go.”

“Then why don’t you take those feelings, bag ‘em up, and dump them on someone else? Someone like…” As he racked his brain to recall a random person’s name, his was saved by the sound of footsteps coming up next to him. “Someone like Rolo!”

“What about me?” Rolo asked, stopping next to them. 

“Ew, no, Roland is like a brother to me!” Nyma recoiled with disgust. “Nope! Not happening. No way am I dating Rolo.”

“Wait, what?” Rolo asked, looking at Leandro. He opened his mouth to continue, but Leandro cut him off. He didn’t have the patience or the time to listen to a rant.

“Where’s Shay? I was on my way home and thought I’d say hi before later,” Leandro asked, pointedly looking around the shop.

“She’s upstairs,” Nyma said with a frown. “And did you say ‘before later’? Why, what’s later? Did you invite Shay to a party? Shay and not me?” She pressed, her voice raising.

“Thanks!” Leandro said quickly as he made his escape, leaving Nyma yelling after him and drawing the attention of several customers. 

Leandro headed to the stairs that led to the second floor, where all of the handmade creations, workshops, and the employee offices were. The stairs were lined with faux flowers, vines, and berries, and embellished with small plastic gems and charms.

The soft jingling of windchimes met his ears as he emerged onto the second floor, which complimented the flute music that sounded from the speakers. Handmade creations such as ceramic eatery and animals, jewelry, pillows, and hundreds of other items, each crafted individually, lined the shelves. 

Leandro made his way to the ‘employees only’ entrance, receiving strange looks from customers as he passed them by. He didn’t blame them; he was wearing a bomber jacket in black and vibrant blue over a white t-shirt with a picture of a blue cat on it, his favorite shirt, and gray camo-print pants stuffed into brown combat boots. That, and he was carrying four large, overstuffed shopping bags.

Once he reached the employee entrance, he knocked on the door. He couldn’t get in, because, like most businesses, there was a security panel next to the door, and he didn’t have a key. 

After a few moments, the door was opened by a tall, dark-skinned, short brown-haired lady with hazel eyes and her favorite hoop earrings.

“Shay!” Leandro grinned. “How you doing?”

“Leandro? What are you doing here? Aren’t we meeting up at one… oh sunflowers, am I late?” She stressed, having a small panic attack.

“No, no. I was heading back from Harvard’s and your place was on my way home, so I thought I’d say hi,” Leandro explained, and Shay seemed to calm down. “If you want, you can come with me?”

“No thank you, I have to finish up what I was doing first, which will take… maybe a half hour? Hunk can always take me,” She answered as she shook her head.

“Oooh, Hunk can take you?” Leandro smirked, raising a brow.

“Shut up,” Shay laughed. “See you later, thank you for stopping by!”

“No problem, see you in an hour!” He replied as he turned to go, lifting a shoulder because he couldn’t use his hands. 

Shay closed the door as Leandro proceeded down the stairs and back towards the entrance of the shop.

“Wait just a minute!” Called Nyma, who was stomping towards him, looking ready to tear him to pieces. 

“Sorry, Nyma, things to do and places to be. See you around!” Leandro said quickly and left the shop before she could attack him. He could still hear her screaming after him as he briskly walked down the street towards his apartment building. 

He almost felt bad for Nyma. She was still hung up on their breakup, which was like two years ago. She was naturally overly stubborn. Not only was she still hung over about him, but she could handle the pressure of society effortlessly. To prove his point, with all of her carrying on, a whole lot of people were now staring at her, and she didn’t seem to care one bit.

He walked a little faster, relief washing over him as he climbed up the front steps. He stopped in front of the entryway, realizing he couldn’t get his resident card out of his wallet to unlock the door without putting the shopping bags down. 

“Ugh,” He groaned as he put the bags in his right hand down to find his wallet, putting the bags in his left down when he couldn’t find his wallet on that side of him. “Quiznak, where is that thing?”

He bent down to search the shopping bags, and found his wallet in the bag with the ramen noodle cups he’d found on sale. He grinned as he took out his card and scanned it against the security pad. _Akira will be proud of me for those,_ he thought as he stuffed his wallet in his pocket, picking the bags up again and entering the building.

“Mornin’, Leandro!” Called a Southern-accented voice, belonging to the morning-hours security guard, Bill. Bill was from the State of Texas, and had moved to New York to be a cop in the heavily populated city. He always wore a cool hat that was folded up on one side that made Bill look like a cowboy. A very modern cowboy, with the assortment of technology the cops had. 

“Hiya, Bill! How’s everything?” Leandro grinned as he lifted his bags in a partial wave.

“Eh, not much. Tonight’ll be a madhouse,” Bill sighed with a roll of his eyes, walking over to get the elevator for him. “Now, you and Akira have fun now, ya hear?”

“Will do, thank you!” Leandro said as he climbed into the elevator, using his knuckle to press the button for the 13th floor. “Happy Innovation day!”

“You too, kid,” Bill dipped his hat at Leandro as the doors closed.

Leandro leaned against the elevator walls, his smile falling flat. The image of that strange file played through his mind, sending chills up his spine. What had that been for? Why did that man have it? And most importantly, why were he and Akira on the list?

“ _Arrived at Thirteenth Floor. Have a nice day!_ ” The elevator AI voice said, cutting his thoughts off. Leandro sighed, leaving the elevator and walking down the hallway to apartment 1314, where he slammed his head against the door a few times. Leandro winced, as rapping his head on the door probably wasn’t his smartest idea. 

Akira opened the door after a moment, and he frowned almost immediately. “Two things, Leandro. One, why did you buy so much stuff? We only needed drinks. And two, why is your forehead red?”

Leandro huffed a laugh. “One, the ramen cups and some other things were on sale. Two, I didn’t have hands available to knock, so I used my head.”

“Obviously, you didn’t use your head. Or you just forgot that your brain is part of your head, so you didn’t use it,” Akira sighed in exasperation. “Get in here.”

Leandro laughed as he put the bags on the couch, shuffling through the bags and removing groceries from them. “Let’s see here, I have a couple beers, some sodas-” 

“Pops,” Akira corrected, cutting Leandro off as he closed the door.

“- _Sodas,_ ” Leandro pointedly repeated, “ramen cups, strawberries, more instant coffee, and pop tarts.”

“It’s called pop. And why the heck did you get pop tarts?” Akira frowned, picking up a box of them.

“Because they were on sale, and because they’re good,” Leandro answered. “And it’s called Soda.”

“It’s pop, for God’s sake. Now go put all of this crap away,” Akira huffed, taking the beers and bottles of soda and putting them on the table.

Leandro put the other items in a bag, and carried them into the kitchen. “Soda!” He called back with a smirk.

“Pop!” Akira shouted at him from the table.

“Soda!” Leandro repeated as he put the pop tarts in a cabinet.

“God, Leandro, it’s called pop! It’s nearly twelve thirty, why did it take you so long to get back?” Akira came into the kitchen to glare at him, only making Leandro laugh.

“I stopped by Shay to say hi, and Nyma pestered me again,” He answered, stuffing the empty bags in the recycling chute. “And it’s called soda.”

“Stop contradicting me on what to call pop!” Akira fumed, his face turning pink. Leandro smirked, finding it adorable.

“Only if you admit you’re wrong,” Leandro slurred, putting on his best flirting face, which made Akira turn red.

“Stop that!” Akira pursed his lips in frustration, and Leandro laughed again.

“Stop what?” Leandro asked, stopping in front of Akira. He was two inches taller than Akira, which usually made no difference, but Akira hated the fact he was shorter than Leandro. And the fact that Leandro was looking down at him with a huge smirk made his face turn even redder. 

“Stop-” Akira paused, looking like he was trying to find the right words, which made him seem so pure that Leandro almost couldn’t handle it.

“You’re cute, you know that?” He said as he stared into the violet pools in front of him.

“Ew, you guys are so gross,” a new voice interjected, making both boys turn their heads towards the front door.

“What the- Katie? How did you-” Leandro started, but Katie raised a hand to cut him off.

“I’m a hacker. And I’d knocked on the door three times without an answer,” She answered, adjusting her glasses. “Apparently, you two were busy…”

“Playing pointless flirting games,” a woman with long, stark blonde hair and a thick British accent finished for her. “Both of you are ridiculous.”

“Allura!” Leandro grinned.

“It’s not one yet, is it?” Akira frowned, checking his holo-phone. “Yeah, it’s only twelve forty-five. Why are you here so early?”

“Obviously, they couldn’t wait to see us,” Leandro shrugged with a smirk.

“Yeah, no,” Katie sighed. “Hunk wanted to grab Shay a flower before he picked her up from the shop,” she explained.

“Shiro and Adam are on their way. They’re getting the pizza. We brought chips and snack foods,” Allura said , holding up a paper bag. 

“Sweet!” Leandro said, taking the paper bag and taking out its contents as Akira brought serving bowls over. “These aren’t chips,” he frowned, holding up a bag of french fries.

“Yes they are,” Allura folded her arms across her chest. 

“No they’re-”

“Oh my _God,_ Leandro. In Britain, French fries are called chips. I’d ask you if you were really that stupid, but it dawned on me that you really _are,_ ” Katie said in exasperation, and Leandro glared at her.

“Alright, alright, can we all chill for a second? Help me put these things in bowls, guys,” Akira cut off the argument before it could continue.

The next few minutes passed by in tense silence, Katie and Leandro exchanging glares more than a few times. It would’ve continued if there hadn’t been a knock on the apartment door.

“Ha! See, _some_ people know how to wait for a door to be opened like normal human beings, and not breaking and entering,” Leandro pointedly smirked at Katie, who scowled in response.

Leandro opened the door, and the familiar faces of Shiro and Adam greeted him. Each man was holding two boxes of pizza.

“Hey Leandro!” Shiro grinned. “Got anywhere we can put these?”

“Yeah man, just put ‘em on the table,” Leandro nodded, moving out of the way for them to come in. A third man walked in after them, and Leandra immediately recognized the cropped hair and cheesy look.

“Matt!” 

“Wha- Leandro! How you doin’ my dude?” Matt grinned, high fiving Leandro.

Katie’s jaw dropped faster than a dumbbell in a freefall. “Matt? Why are you here?”

Matt turned his head to face his little sister. “Hey Pidge! Surprised, no?” 

“Very much so! Why the he-” Katie started, but Matt interrupted her.

“I joined Shiro and Adam! We’re a three man team, an unstoppable trio, a-”

“Hey, guys! Are we late?” Hunk suddenly asked from the doorway, having arrived with Shay next to him.

“Hunk! My man!” Leandro gave him a hug, which Hunk returned. “How ya been?”

“Leandro, you saw me two days ago. I’ve been fine,” Hunk laughed. “What about you two? Dang we have a whole lot of people here today.”

“Sure do! Nine total! And we were waiting on you. Hi again, Shay!” Leandro nodded, waving to Shay.

“Hi again, Leandro!” Shay smiled back.

“Well, everyone’s here now. I’m hungry, and from what I understand, we have a whole lot to discuss,” Adam grumbled aloud. 

There were nods and murmurs of agreement that followed. 

“Then let’s get this party started!” Leandro grinned.

They had a lot to discuss. Lunch today was _not_ going to be pretty, that was for sure.

\------

Keys clacked under graceful fingers as they sped across the keyboard, rapidly typing. It had taken her a while, but she’d found what she was looking for.

Through the Garrison Police Department Identification Records from several years ago, she’d found the criminal profiles of two specific people. Although they were older now, and a lot of the information was outdated, the people were the same.

The printer whirred to life as she printed the profiles out. She placed them into a file holder, and stapled a label that read “Important” to it. 

As she set the file aside to deliver it later, the communications panel at her desk vibrated as it rang. She set a sound bit into her ear and pushed a button on the panel, and the call opened up into her ear.

“ _Calling to confirm out date for tonight?_ ” said a distorted voice on the other end of the call.

“Date confirmed. Planned time of occurrence, eight pm, during evening quiet hour. Location, South Wing, area 546-2. Correct?” She answered, using a somewhat hushed voice during the daytime office hours.

“ _Affirmative,_ ” came the reply. “ _The payment has been transferred?_ ”

“Payment will be transferred after the date, if your work is appealing.”

A short moment of silence followed, before the reply came. “ _Acceptable. Do not go back on that._ ”

“Understood. However, the Overlord will make the final call,” she said before hanging up the call, and removing the sound bit.

The picked up the file holder, smiling to herself. All was going as planned, as she willed, as she pleased.

Soon, the Overlord would achieve his dream. No one would stop him.

After all, she was on his side, and she never went wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Five minutes to spare! I still managed to get this chapter out on time! I was honestly really nervous that I wouldn't get it out, because a LOT has happened this past week.
> 
> To start off, please don't judge the fact that I used a random street name that's probably not a street name in Manhattan. And the fact that I made Rolo's real name Roland. Much appreciated :D
> 
> My dog had several seizures this past week, which she hasn't had in years. I've been really scared for her for a while, so please pray for her health! 
> 
> My computer crashed on me last tuesday, and apparently the hard drive had died. When we went to get it fixed, we found out that the motherboard was dead too. So I spent the past few hours today running between stores to get a new computer. Meanwhile I've been using my school-issued laptop, as well as my phone. 
> 
> Life is... ugh. Well, on the bright side, I got this chapter published! I worked hard on this one.
> 
> Also, due to above technical difficulties, I haven't gotten ANY progress on the cover art! Yeah, I'm not happy. But my new computer should definitely be better, so I'll get working soon, I promise!
> 
> I'll post the next chapter soon, loves! For now, you'll have to suffer not knowing how business over pizza lunch goes, or whose profiles 'She' found o.o Feel free to comment with any guesses!
> 
> Thank you to the 8 people who left kudos! It's really appreciated, and its your support that keeps me going!


	4. A Paper Full of Names and a Secret Or Two

“Yow pffound a wffat on tve wop?” Katie interrupted Akira as he explained what had happened the previous night.

“What?” Leandro frowned. “You kind of have pizza in your face, so we don’t know what you just said.”

Katie glared at him as she swallowed her chewed-up pizza. “I said, you found a what on the op?”

Akira resisted groaning as he dipped a French fry in ketchup. It had been an hour since lunch had officially started, and no progress had been made concerning their discussion topic. Minus the fifteen minutes they’d all spent talking about their day so far and eating food, they’d only gotten past the fact that he and Leandro had been on an op to find a ring.

“We found a file,” Akira repeated. “Well, Leandro found the file first, while I was getting the ring.”

“What was in the file?” Adam asked irritably.

Leandro closed his eyes, as if recalling the image of what he’d seen. “Well I was checking a really tiny room which was probably an office or study, and on the desk was a file that said ‘Highly Classified’.”

“Inside,” Akira continued for him, “on the first page was a three-columned list of names. Some were stricken through with red gel pen, and the rest were left alone.” Akira shuddered before continuing, recalling the large, bold-print, underlined words at the top of the page. “The page was titled ‘Targets to Eliminate’.”

“Targets to Eliminate…?” Allura repeated, slower than Akira had said it. “That sounds like something an assassin would have, or a client of assassins.”

“Wait, where was this, was who was the file meant for?” Shiro asked, looking at Leandro and Akira in turn. 

“The Six Hundred building on Brinstone Avenue,” Leandro said to him. “The file was sent to-” He cut off suddenly, his gaze flicking to Adam. “Er… Samuel West,” He finished cautiously. All eyes turned to look at Adam, who had sucked in a breath, closed his eyes, and was keeping his temper from boiling over.

“Of course it was _him,_ ” Adam hissed through gritted teeth. Shiro put a comforting hand on his shoulder, and the rage seemed to settle, at least for the time being. 

After a moment of silence, Akira continued. “We read through the list, and…” He glanced at Leandro for confirmation, who nodded. With his approval, Akira continued. “We saw our names on the list, still uncrossed.”

“Wait- What?” Katie stood suddenly, her hands slamming down on the table. “Why didn’t you tell us sooner?!”

“I’m with Katie, for once. If you guys are in trouble, you gotta let us know,” Matt agreed, looking at both of them with furrowed brows.

“Agreed,” Shay frowned, giving them both concerned looks. “If you are _ever_ in trouble, you should let us all know immediately.”

“Well, we kinda had to get out of the building while being chased by security guards, so we didn’t exactly have the time to let anyone know anything,” Leandro explained, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“And we were tired and worn out after the fact, so we didn’t think of it,” Akira added pointedly.

“I’d still like to know if my family is in danger as soon as it’s a known reality,” Shiro frowned, looking at Akira. 

“In any case,” Hunk interrupted, who was looking at Leandro with the same accusing look Shiro was giving Akira, “why were you on the list?”

“Why would we know?” Akira answered. “We’re just as confused as you are.”

“Actually, I may have an answer,” Katie cut in, who flinched as all eyes turned to her faster than she could blink.

“What do you mean?” Asked Adam, whom Akira figured was the most concerned of all of them.

After all, the wealthy businessman, the man best known in the business world for his infamous business tactics, Samuel West, was none other than Adam West’s father. And Adam hated his father with a passion.

“Lately, I’ve been hearing rumors about this new up-and-coming, all-powerful crim called the Overlord,” Katie began, and Leandro immediately interrupted her.

“The Overlord? Sounds like a cringey villain name from a comic book or movie.”

Katie rolled her eyes as she continued. “I’ve also been hearing about sudden, random deaths and disappearances of gang members and crims all around the State. I thought that this Overlord guy was just a random character to connect the disappearances and deaths, but now this list of names, or supposed targets, sent to that guy… I’m not sure if these are just rumors anymore.”

Matt nodded in agreement. “What’s more, I met with someone last night who said something similar. They said that during a raid on a small business for supplies, a group of masked criminals, which they guessed were hired assassins, nearly killed the two of them. They claimed they were targeted, but they didn’t know by whom. I think this Overlord guy has something to do with it.”

Hunk leaned back in his chair, taking a French fry and popping it into his mouth. “I think we need to do some digging before we do anything.”

“I completely agree,” Shiro nodded. “Is there anything else we should be informed of?” He asked, turning to look at Akira and Leandro.

Akira shook his head. He’d stated all that he knew of the matter. However, Leandro had a guilty look on his face.

“Er… I remember some of the other names on the list, the ones that weren’t crossed off,” Leandro admitted, his cheeks darkening.

“What?” Akira turned to him, feeling betrayed. “You mean you know who else could be in danger, and you didn’t tell me? Didn’t tell _us?!_ ”

Leandro hesitated before answered, his voice wavering even as he did. “Yes,” 

“Enough with the blame game,” Allura stood, folding her arms across her chest and glaring at Akira. “That will do nothing for us now. Leandro, will you tell us these names you remember?” She asked him with a softer tone as Akira glared back at her.

“Can I write them down instead?” Leandro asked, his voice still holding traces of a tremble.

“Sure,” Hunk answered, removing a notepad and pen from his sleeveless jacket, and handed them to Leandro.

Akira watched as he wrote on the paper, the ink appearing rigid due to Leandro’s shaking and rigid movements.

Once he was done, Leandro handed the notepad and pen back to Hunk. Another strike of pain stung his heart, but Akira shoved it away.

Silence followed.

One minute. Two minutes. Nearing three, Hunk closed his eyes and passed the notepad to Shay, who was next to him. Shay read the note quietly, a sharp intake of breath catching in her throat.

Akira furrowed his brow as she passed it to Allura. Allura’s eyes widened as she read it, a hand covering her mouth in shock as she handed the note to Adam, who was across the table. 

He and Shiro read it together, and Akira’s heart sank as Adam squinted, as if to make sure he’d read it correctly, and Shiro looked up at Akira with a look of concern he’d never seen.

Matt and Katie got the note next, and Katie audibly - and loudly - swore as Matt re-read it and re-re-read it, each time his brows pinching closer and closer together between his eyes.

Finally, Katie handed the note to Akira. He looked around the room, all eyes stared at him but Hunk’s, whose were closed, and Leandro’s, whose were avoiding him. He swallowed thickly, looking down at the names written on the note.

In Leandro’s unusually rigid, shaky handwriting read:

_These are the names I remember also seeing on the list._  
_Takashi Shirogane_  
_Matthew Holt_  
_Katlyn Holt_  
_Allura Altea_  
_Hunk Davis_  
_I also saw Adam West scribbled over._  
_I didn’t see Shay’s name._

Akira’s eyes had flown open, a sharp gasp nearly making him choke on air. 

“So…” Matt said quietly, “we’re all targets.”

“Apparently so. Whoever this Overlord is, he’s obviously out to rid the state of crims. But why crims? Why not-” Shiro began, and Katie cut him off.

“Government officials are being found dead, too. Senator Ardmore was killed last night,” she said, receiving looks from Shiro, Adam, and Matt, that said ‘why didn’t you say that earlier’. Katie ignored them.

“Then this Overlord guy is more than likely behind this. But we need to find out why he’s targeting people, more specifically people that have nothing to do with him,” Akira said firmly.

“Me and Pidge will do some digging later,” Matt said, ruffling his sister’s hair, to which she yelped in protest.

“I and Hunk as well,” Shay focused her sincere amber gaze on Akira, and Hunk nodded in agreement. 

“You’re going out tonight though, ri-” Hunk started, and stopped abruptly with a flinch as Akira gave him a death glare. 

“Wait, what?” Leandro looked up at him. Quiznak.

“Nothing,” Akira answered, although he could feel his face getting hot as he denied it. “Let’s just finish eating. We still have a lot of food left, and I don’t want anything left in this apartment.”

It took more than a few minutes, but eventually normal conversation started up again, the atmosphere of the room lightening. About another hour later, the food had been completely finished, and belongings were gathered in preparation to leave.

“See you, guys!” Matt said, dragging Katie with him. “You and I are going home, Mom wants you to-”

“Ugh, shut up, will you?” Katie shrugged away from him, giving Leandro and Akira hugs. “Thanks for lunch, guys. See you.” 

“Get outta here, gremlin,” Leandro smirked, receiving a scowl.

After the Holt siblings left, Hunk and Shay said goodbye, and Hunk gave Leandro a hug. The two of them were like brothers, friends since early childhood. Regardless of that fact, Akira still felt a pang of exclusion when Hunk just fist-bumped him and said thanks. Shay gave him a hug, though, which made him feel better.

Allura followed them out, nodding to Akira and Leandro curtly. 

“Ouch, we just got dissed,” Leandro laughed as she left, and Allura turned to glare at him. 

“No, I was being polite,” Allura frowned.

“But we’re your friends, not your business partners,” Akira pointed out, which only aggravated the poor woman. Allura stomped away, tossing her hair as she went, muttering something about how no one knew proper manners.

The two boys exchanged a single glance before snickering quietly.

“The two of you are terrible,” Shiro rolled his eyes, giving Akira a hug. Into his ear, Shiro whispered “Please stay safe.”

Akira nodded as he pulled back, and the two of them shared unspoken words of worry for each other’s safety.

“Shiro, we have to go,” Adam broke the silence, his voice sharpened by the aftereffects of the main discussion. Adam seriously hated his father.

“Right. Thanks for lunch, guys,” Shiro nodded, smiling to Leandro as well. “See you guys later.”

“No problem, see you!” Leandro grinned, closing the door after they’d gone.

As Leandro went to clean the table off, clearing off the dirty dishes and trash, Akira frowned at him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?” Leandro asked from the kitchen. 

Akira rolled his eyes with such sarcasm, he was disappointed that Leandro had missed it. Honestly, Leandro could be so oblivious.

“About the other names from the list.”

Silence followed that.

“Leandro-”

“I didn’t want to scare anyone,” Leandro cut him off. “I mean, yeah, I get that it was stupid of me to hide it, but…” He paused, searching for the right words. “I just… I didn’t want anyone to be afraid…”

“Leandro, it’s fine,” Akira said walking over to him and wrapping his arms around the taller boy. The fact that Akira was shorter than Leandro made the situation feel awkward, but he pushed the feeling away. “What’s done is done. I’m not angry at you or anything.”

“You sure? You sounded pretty upset earlier.”

“Very sure,” Akira nodded. “How could I ever be mad at you?”

Leandro shrugged. “Understandable. I mean, I’m a pretty great guy.”

“Shut up,” Akira laughed, stretching his neck up to reach Leandro’s face, pressing their lips together.

A moment later Leandro pulled back, a smirk crossing his face as Akira frowned. “Now that I’ve explained myself, you gotta tell your story.”

“Tell what story?” Akira’s brows pinched together in confusion. 

“Hunk said something about a date earlier?” Leandro grinned as Akira’s face flushed again. “Now what was that about?”

Akira gave Leandro a light shove, pushing him away playfully. “You don’t need to know.”

“Uh, I think I do,” Leandro’s eyes glinted with a light that always showed when he felt triumphant. Quiznak, it was beautiful, but annoying.

Akira glared at him, but gave in. Continuing to argue would be pointless. “I was going to take you to dinner tonight,” he admitted, and Leandro immediately grinned widely. 

“Aw, you’re too cute!” He said ruffling his hair.

Akira recoiled, ducking under his hand. “Yeah yeah, it was supposed to be a surprise. Which is _ruined_ , by the way.”

“Well I’m still excited. And I don’t know where we’re going anyway. Plus, it’s only three, so I’m going to guess we’re not going anywhere for the next few hours,” Leandro shrugged, grabbing a beer off of the table.

At the same time he opened it, their holo-vision lit up, a warning notification flashing on the screen.

“Doesn’t that only happen when there’s an imminent danger alert?” Leandro frowned as Akira grabbed the remote to open the notification. 

“Yeah…” Akira said, his voice trailing off. Something wasn’t right.

He opened the notification, and read the information listed, a sharp breath catching in his throat. 

_Public Community Warning: Immediate Danger_  
_Three Criminals Discovered and Charged with Murder_  
_Name:_  
_Hunk Davis_  
_Name:_  
_Allura Altea_  
_Name:_  
_Katlyn Holt_  
_Criminal Offense: The murder of Senator Connor S. Ardmore_  
_If spotted, please contact the Garrison Police Department Immediately_

“No…” Leandro whispered, staring at the hovering screen, his eyes wide.

“How…” Akira started, but her already knew the answer.

A small thought, a distant belief, yet painfully nailed to his head:

The Overlord had set them up.

\------

A smile stretched across the pale-skinned face as the emergency notification disappeared. The stage was set, and the play had begun. The three children known as the Cyberpunks would be no more come sundown. 

A soft thud sounded as she set the phone down on the desk, collecting her papers and standing up. She had a press conference to attend in the President’s stead. What bothers those were.

Her heels clacked against the floor in time with her brisk pace, not stopping even as she engaged in conversation with other members of the office.

As she walked, her mind sorted through her schedule; give a speech, answer questions, leave. Easy enough. Then she could get back to work. Real work.

Work to help the Overlord achieve his dream.

The door to the conference room swung open as she entered, camera shutters flashing and reporters howling at her, flinging ridiculous and pointless questions in all directions. She stood on the podium, a promise she’d made long ago flashing across her mind. 

She would keep her promise. She owed him that much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I personally feel like I didn't write this chapter very well... Oh well. That's probably because it was mostly just conversation, and not too much "doing". But never fear, next chapter will be MUCH more exciting :D
> 
> I left you off a cliffhanger! How evil of me XD  
> Lil side note: My dog is feeling much better now, she's on new medications and she's eating and drinking again, and she hasn't had a seizure in a while which is good. Thank you to anyone who prayed for her, your prayers were answered!
> 
> Tomorrow I have lots of time, so I'll hopefully be getting lots of art done. Remember to stay updated with that on my instagram page, because I have... *takes a few seconds to count* four incomplete projects that I can think of off the top of my head. So keep a lookout for those!
> 
> Thank you to the nine people who left kudos on my story, it means a lot to me to know that I have support! Look forward to the next chapter next Monday!


	5. Escape Plan and a Pep Talk

Neither of them wasted any time. 

As Akira raced to their room to get their weapons, Leandro grabbed his phone. He opened up the pinging system, and immediately contacted Hunk.

_Hey, you saw the alert, right? You guys are_  
_okay? I’m guessing you’re going to the base,_  
_we’ll meet you there in a few._  
_Leandro Sanchez_

“Catch,” Akira called to him, making him jump, scrambling to catch and hold the blaster that Akira had tossed him. And of course, Akira then tossed him another one.

“Stop tossing me blasters! I can get them myself!” Leandro protested, bending down to pick up the blaster he’d dropped.

“No time, we gotta move,” Akira replied, tucking his knife into his jacket pocket. “We going to the base?”

“I don’t-” Leandro was cut off by the blipping sound of his phone being pinged. He held the phone out in front of him, opening the ping on the holographic screen. Hunk had replied.

_Yeah, we saw the alert! We’re at the base,_  
_meet us here._  
_Hunk Davis_

“We’re going to the base,” Leandro confirmed, nodding to Akira.

“Off we go, then,” Akira turned on his heel, heading to the fire escape. He grabbed his goggles, which were hanging on a hook near the fire escape window, as he passed them by.

The two of them were down on the ground within the next minute and a half, and racing out onto the streets on Red in the next two.

Colors, sounds, and lights darted by in a blurred mass. Leandro gripped Akira tighter as they zipped past the slower traffic, the nagging fear of falling off of the bike clawing its way into his mind. He kicked it to the back of his brain; he needed to focus on the problem at hand. His childhood friend - no, Hunk was pretty much a brother to him now - was being hunted down by the Garrison. 

Not just Hunk - Katie and Allura, his best friends, were also being targeted, and Leando refused to stand by and watch. Not when his friends were being wrongly targeted by the cops. Not while they were being targeted at all.

Akira swooped downwards, startling Leandro out of his thoughts, diving into an alleyway. As Leandro focused back on reality, he realized the sound of sirens were blaring behind them.

“Hold on!” Akira shouted over the roaring wind and blaring sirens, and Leandro swore that he would’ve been flung off the speeder had he not been warned, because Akira made a turn so sharp that they did a barrel roll.

Leandro squeezed his eyes shut as they sped between two buildings, which were way too close to each other. But somehow, the next time he opened his eyes, they hadn’t been blown to bits. Rather, Akira was racing along a much larger alley, while the cops were blocked off by the narrow passage they’d gone through.

Red screeched to a halt as the speeder entered the garage, the door immediately closing behind them. 

“Took you long enough!” A familiar voice called from the doorway. Standing there was Katie, no longer dressed in a shirt and jeans as she had been during lunch, but camo pants, a white tank top, a leather jacket, a belt with an abundance of pockets and a blaster holster, and a satchel over her shoulder. 

“Apologies, your majesty, but we were being chased by the cops, and I don’t think any of us want them knowing where we are,” Leandro bowed to her, sarcasm coating his voice in a nice, thick sheet.

“Stuff it, you,” Katie sniffed as she turned her head pointedly and stomped away. 

Akira rolled his eyes as Leandro snickered, and the two of them followed her into the main area of the abandoned warehouse. The warehouse had been a small salt factory before it had closed years ago, but the city was too lazy to tear it down so it had remained standing. Perfect place to establish a base.

Their footsteps echoed throughout the large space, the sound resonating off the walls and old machinery that filled the room. Dust thickened the air, swirling around in the dimming light of the sun, taking on a slightly golden glow as the light struck through it. It reminded Leandro of the fairy dust that the fairies in his niece’s storybooks used. The thought of his niece brought a fresh wave of homesickness and remorse washing over him, and his shoulders slumped.

 _Nope, stop that, now is not the time._ He shook his head, clearing it of the negative feelings. Right now, he needed to focus on the present; he needed to help his friends get out of the city. 

They made their way down the stairs to the underground level that had been built for offices, which they’d turned into their secret hideout. The air smelled of grease and smoke, as it usually did, and objects were strewn about the floor and atop the tables and desks in an aimless manner.

“Ah, Leandro! Akira!” Allura said, not quite smiling, but her face brightened as she looked up from the stack of cases she was going through. “I apologize for the mess, however Katie estimates about thirty minutes before the warehouse could be breached.”

“What can we do to help?” Akira asked, stepping forward.

“Well for starters, we haven’t gotten to the tech corner, and we’re trying to use as few bags as possible,” Katie explained. “Akira, you can help Allura with the supplies. Leandro, you go help Hunk with the maps and documents and stuff.”

“Okay, and where is Hunk?” Leandro asked while Akira walked over to Allura.

“He’s in the coordination room, obviously,” Katie rolled her eyes as she strode over to the stack of computers and and other machinery towards the back of the room.

Leandro rolled his eyes as he made his way to the coordination room, a small room that had most likely once been a meeting room, with a table running through it and broken office chairs stuffed underneath it. One of the walls had been turned into an entire map of the city, and a smaller map of the State that was posted over at the side. The other walls acted as bulletin boards, with papers, smaller maps, and notes stuck to them. Hunk was stuffing rolled-up maps into a case, ripping papers off of the wall and shredding some, while putting others into file holders. Leandro knocked on the door, and Hunk’s head whipped up in surprise. 

“Oh, Leandro, you scared me,” he breathed with relief. 

“I show no mercy,” Leandro smirked.

“Not even for me? Your all-time best friend?” Hunk said in a jokingly pouty tone, giving Leandro puppy eyes from his position at the other side of the table.

“Not even for you. The ones closest are the most dangerous,” the smirk widened, but quickly fell flat as Leandro went over to the wall to help remove the papers. 

As he pulled papers off the wall and placed them on the table, his mind began to wander. His thoughts trailed back to the sight of the city-wide emergency warning, his friends’ faces staring back at him from the glowing screen of their holo-vision. Someone was targeting them - some unknown threat that slowly picked off its targets, one by one, until there was nothing left to keep it from getting what it wanted. It had moved on to pick off the Cyberpunks, and now they had to escape to the junkyard just outside the city. To do that, they needed to travel through alleys and sewer tunnels - not to mention they’d be doing it in broad daylight. But what would happen after they were gone? Hunk, Allura, and Katie would be safe outside the city, but only for so long. And who would be next? Today, it was the Cyberpunks, but tomorrow, it could be-

“Leandro?” A soft yet sharp voice cut into his thoughts like butter, stopping him from finishing his thought. Leandro blinked as he re-entered reality, and realized he’d crushed the piece of paper he was holding. “You good?” Hunk’s voice asked again, and upon looking up, he saw that Hunk’s chocolate gaze was fixated on him.

“Ah… yeah, I’m good, thanks,” he stammered, dropping the paper. “Sorry ‘bout that, I-”

“Something is on your mind,” Hunk interrupted, and shook his head as Leandro started to protest. “Dude, I’ve known you for too long. Something is going through that mind of yours, and I want to know what.”

Leandro considered arguing, but the look of sheer concern in Hunk’s eyes made him falter, and with a heavy sigh, he gave in. “I… have a question.”

“Ask away, I’m all ears.”

Leandro smiled for a moment, wondering how he’d been so lucky to find a friend like Hunk. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing the heavy question to be turned into words. “What happens next?”

Hunks eyebrows pressed together. “I don’t understand the question.”

“Oh, well…” Leandro scratched the back of his head, craning his neck to look at the low, blank, crumbling ceiling. “Escaping to the junkyard will only stop the cops - and this Overlord dude - for a limited time. And no doubt Akira and I will be following you soon, as well as by other gangs. But…” He carded his hand through his hair, taking a breath before lowering his gaze to meet Hunk’s. “What happens then? Life can’t go on normally, we’ll have pretty much lost everything. We’ll be stuck in a junkyard. Even if we do go to another State, New York will put our faces out and-”

“Leandro, take a breath.” Hunk cut him off again, closing the distance between them and resting a hand on Leandro’s shoulder. “Think about us and our personalities as you say this. Do you really think that any of us will just give up like that?”

He opened his mouth to counter, but Hunk’s words sank in and the words that had risen in his throat melted into nothing that he released with a sigh. “No.”

“Exactly. This Overlord guy will not tear apart our lives. We won’t let him. And should it come to it, we _will_ fight back.” Hunk’s hand tightened its grip on his shoulder for a moment. His gaze softened then, so did his grip, and he pulled Leandro into a hug. “I won’t let him hurt any of us.”

Leandro smiled, hugging him back. “Thanks, man. Best pep talk ever.”

Hunk pulled back, a smile on his face. “We’ll live through this. We’re crims, aren’t we? The cops can’t stop us, and neither can the Overlord.”

Leandro nodded. “Yeah. Now, we-”

“You guys done in here?” Katie’s voice sliced through his words, her scrawny form leaning against the doorway. One brow raised as her honey gaze focused on them with both an accusing and questioning look.

“Ah, yeah, just got sidetracked, we’ll be out in a minute!” Hunk said, turning around and quickly sorting through more papers that he ripped off the wall.

The answer seemed to be enough for Katie, because while she huffed at the excuse, she didn’t press for details as she walked away.

Leandro joined Hunk in the sorting of papers, and a bag full of files and a couple map holsters later, they joined the other three in the main area of the offices. 

“So, how do we want to do this?” Akira asked as he brushed his bangs out of his face, looking down at a map of the city’s sewer system, subway tracks, and street layouts.

“I suggest taking this route, starting in the sewer passages,” Allura pointed to a green path on the map, starting about two blocks away from their location, which was marked with a black X-mark. She trailed her finger along the path until it crossed with a red path. “Then we take the old subway route to the edge of the city, where we get out here,” she explained as she moved her finger along the red path, tapping a purple dot - an exit - which was a mere block away from the city border. “It would be the least out-in-the-open, although it will take longer than a straight-out city run, and there are occasional patrols in the subway tunnels. However, with the convention tonight, the patrols should be cut down.”

Akira pointed to a blue dot along the sewer path. “Can’t do that, because of this - the filtration building. The tunnels cut off here, and continue on the other side of the building.”

Allura muttered a hushed curse as she realized her mistake.

“Wait, hang on,” Leandro lowered his hand from his face, where it had been pressed against his cheek, and pointed to a large street parallel to the sewer path. “This is Jackson.”

“So?” Katie asked with a frown, folding her arms across her chest. “It’s Jackson, big whoopdeedoo.”

“There’s a parade on that street for Innovation day. Which means that all attention will be focused there. And,” he added, before Katie could tell him off, “there’s a tunnel down there, one that hasn’t crumbled.”

“You mean from back during the War of Technology?” Hunk asked, rubbing his chin.

“Excuse me, what is this War of Technology?” Allura cut in, seemingly - and understandably - confused.

“It’s a part of US history that is excluded from most history textbooks these days, because the war was so grim. The death count far exceeds that of the Civil War, which happened hundreds of years ago when the country was still fairly new.” Leandro explained. “Technological advancements cause people to be greedy, and with new power and new hunger comes new horror as well.” 

He felt sympathetic for her. It wasn’t surprising she didn’t know about this. Allura had moved from Britian to the US with her father, a wealthy business owner who now worked mainly in Brooklyn. 

“The war was caused by the technological boom in the States, which was the reason they split,” he continued. “Regardless of how drastically it impacted the world, very few people in the States, or anywhere else, are aware of the fact that it happened.”

“Ah. Is this why you dislike Innovation Day so much? Because it is a day of great mourning that was lied about and is instead a day of celebration?” Allura asked, a light of understanding filling her gaze.

“Among other things, yeah,” Akira nodded. “But during that war, tunnels were built under cities for easier, off-radar travel. Most of the tunnels collapsed, due to bombing or just poor structure, but some remain in existence to this day.”

“For example, this one,” Leandro continued, tapping the street on the map. “There are many entrances, mostly hidden down in the sewers. I’m pretty sure that the one we’d be looking for is back here,” he pointed to a place along the sewer path, “and the next exit is above ground. The exit is close to another sewer entrance, so we should be covered.”

“And from there on out, we’d follow Allura’s idea?” Akira clarified, looking down at the map when Leandro nodded as confirmation. “That’s not a bad plan.”

“It’s the best we’ve got, unless anyone else has a different suggestion?” Katie asked, the sarcasm in her voice starting to get on Leandro’s nerves.

“What do we do about the base? Leave it for the cops? Light it up?” Hunk asked, and Akira immediately starting shaking his head violently. 

“Absolutely not! Not while Red is in the garage. I am NOT letting any of you blow him up.”

“So then move the hunk of metal out of the garage,” Katie groaned. 

“But where would he put it?” Allura asked, which only made Katie groan more.

“Ugh, just figure something out. And make it snappy. We have maybe five minutes before this place isn’t safe anymore,” she said, stomping off to the pile of bags they’d left in the corner of the room.

“For Pete’s sake, would you get it together? I get you’re anxious, and we all are, but I refuse to leave Red to be blown up,” Akira called after her, and as she turned around to shout back at him, Hunk stepped between them. 

“Alright everyone, let’s calm down, yeah? Akira, why don’t you ask Shiro or Adam to drive Red home for you?”

“That’s- actually… not a bad idea,” Akira admitted. “Although I don’t really trust anyone with driving Red…”

“Got any better ideas?” Hunk interjected, the comment a little sharper than he’d probably wanted.

“Admittedly, no,” Akira sighed. “Fine. I’ll contact Shiro.”

“Perfect! Once that’s done, we’ll head right out. We can even ask Shiro and Adam to do the igniting for us!” Leandro attempted to make light of the situation, and thankfully it seemed to work. 

Hunk nodded in agreement. “Good idea, Leandro. Akira, ask them to-” 

“I know, I did. They said sure,” Akira said as he turned off his phone. “Now, let’s go, we’re up on time.”

The five of them each took a bag or two from the pile laying in the corner, heading up the stairs and into the wide, open space of the silent factory. Leandro looked up at the swirling dust in the air, the setting sun casting bright golden glows on the dust and the machinery, making the space feel less like an abandoned factory and more like an enchanted garden. Man, he was going to miss this place. It wasn’t like they’d lived here, but there were so many memories, so many adventures that started in that building. Now that he thought about it, this was the place he’d first met Akira. But though he would miss it, he didn’t look back, even after they’d left the old warehouse for the last time. He needed to focus on the present. The cops were looking for them, the Overlord was looking for them, heck, it felt like everyone was trying to find them.

But as they quietly moved through the alley towards the sewer entrance, Leandro couldn’t help thinking that this was far from over, that this was just the beginning of something that would change their lives.

He removed a blaster from its holster on his thigh, holding it close to him, ready for any unwanted surprises. 

In that instant, Leandro changed his mind. He didn’t think this would change their lives.

He knew it would.

\------

Fingernails tapped against the wooden desk as the secretary went over the details of the search. The soft tapping grew faster for every ten seconds that went by.

“What of the criminals?” The thick, deep voice asked, cutting the woman off. “Were they found?”

“No sir, they discovered what was most likely their base of operations, an old factory on 23rd and Damen.”

“And what of it?” His voice was sharper, beginning to grow impatient.

“It had been set on fire, and first responders managed to purge the flames and keep them from spreading to other property, but almost everything inside has been destroyed.”

He fist pounded on the table suddenly, the frustration boiling under the silver mask covering his face. The sound made the secretary flinch.

“Is there anything else you’d like to share?” His cold voice rasped, and the secretary quickly averted her gaze to look down at her clipboard.

“Ah, they were suspected to have headed to the sewers, but there are few men or women on-staff tonight due to the varying parades and festivals, as well as the convention.”

He gritted his teeth. “Find a team, and find those children. I want them dead by the time the convention starts.”

She nodded and quickly left, and he bent to lean over his desk, his folded hands pressed to his mouth. 

These were children. Mere insects in his presence. 

Like insects, they were pestering, irritating, and getting in his way.

And like insects, he would crush them underfoot.

Just as he did to all his enemies.

A cruel smile crept across his face. 

He would show them. Reveal to the world their flawed logic, their biased voices. He would show them all.

And _nothing_ would stand in his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was fun to write! We got some high-speed action. For now, the Cyberpunks and Leakira have finished prepping and are on the way to the sewers, oh what fun! Next chapter will be quite exciting, I wonder what lies in wait for our poor, unsuspecting friends? >:D
> 
> I'm going to stop using the goofy typed emojis now (even those are the only ones that are not evil and satanic), and get to the serious stuff. 
> 
> I want to give a huge thank you to awkwardly_living, Jinxsoyun, CommeCiCommeCa, Rogueangel_16, and Briaero, as well as the nine other people who gave kudos to this story, and to awkwardly_living and Sara Anderson for being my first commentators! Your support, kind words, and interest in my writing is what keeps me going! Kudos to all of you <3
> 
> Next chapter will be coming out on Monday as usual, so stay tuned!


	6. Unknown Attackers are Annoying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor blood warning, if it makes you uncomfortable, please skip over that scene

Even in the afternoon light, the alleys were filled with shadows that wrapped everything in a blanket of darkness. The sounds of cheering and celebration echoed between the high walls of the buildings, drowning out most other sounds. 

Five figures slipped through the alleys, cautiously moving through the folds of shadows. Akira, at the head of the group, stopped as the group approached an intersection with another alley. The others stopped behind him, pressing up against the wall to remain out of sight. Akira leaned forward, craning his neck to check for possible threats in either direction.

Unlike the other alleyways, the shadows recoiled away from the sunlight that poured into the space between the buildings, casting a golden glow onto the pavement and reflecting off the surface, and Akira had to squint to see through the glare. In both directions, he didn’t see any sign of a threat. The alley seemed empty but for a few garbage dumps.

Akira raised his hand up and gave the ‘all clear’, and five shadow-shrouded figures quickly moved across the alley, the shadows fleeting away as they moved through the sunlight. Once they were safely back in the darkness, Akira tapped his watch, and a map of the city he’d uploaded earlier opened up in front of them.

“We’re here,” Akira said, pointing to the pulsing red dot that symbolized their location. “Here’s the sewer entrance,” he pointed to a different part of the map, a few inches away from the dot. “We’re a block away, the entrance is just up ahead.”

“Perfect. Let’s move,” Katie hissed, pushing past him. “The sooner we’re out of here, the better.”

Katie continued down the alley, leaving a trail of her salty aura behind her. Akira watched her go, sighing in exasperation as he closed the map. He turned his head to look back at the others, but a metallic glint caught his eye. His head snapped back in Katie’s direction, his eye catching the glint of metal for a second time in the dim light of the alley.

“Katie! Move!” He shouted, drawing his dagger from its place in his jacket. Katie whirled around to face him, and the motion saved her life; a large, serrated blade took a swing at where her chest had previously been, the attacker stepping out of the shadows of a doorway as Katie stumbled back.

“Who the-” She didn’t have time to finish her question, as the attacker spun around using the force created by the first attack. Katie clumsily scrambled of out range, and the attacker missed her by a mere inch of space, the blade cutting the air an mere inch away from Katie’s face.

Akira charged forward, switching on his own blade and taking a swing, but the attacker ducked and rolled out of the way of the glowing red blur. Akira clicked his tongue. Their attacker was skilled in using a blade, and was agile as well, but they weren’t part of the Garrison. He could tell by what the attacker wore - a blue-gray suit with lighter blue and orange markings. It resembled the more purple-themed suits the New York Defense Force issued to guards rather than the orange and white suits of the garrison, but their attacker was too swift and agile to be a recruit of the NYDF, who trained their heavily-armored recruits in strength-based combat.

Akira took another swing, charging after their attacker, but it was easily deflected and quickly followed by a kick to the stomach, which knocked Akira back. 

Leandro started shooting, but their attacker was too fast. One moment the figure was on the ground, charging toward the wall, the next moment the figure was running up the wall, and before Akira could blink, the attacker was soaring through the air, using their legs to flip themselves over. They landed behind Leandro, and as he twisted around in both surprise and to take the opportunity, the attacker drove the knife they held across his exposed back, from just above his left hip up to his right shoulder. Leandro let out a mangled cry of pain as the sound of fabric and flesh ripping tore through the previously quiet alley, followed quickly by a pained grunt and a loud bang as the attacker launched him into a garbage dump with a solid kick to his bleeding back.

“No!” Both Akira and Hunk shouted together. Hunk whipped out a metal rod, which extended to three feet long. Two golden axe-like blades flickered into existence on either side of the end of the rod, a soft hum emanating from the weapon’s power core. Akira pressed the button on the hilt of the dagger, and the glowing blade lengthened, forming a sword. Simultaneously, Akira and Hunk charged toward the attacker, weapons raised, rage boiling inside them. Akira used that rage to drive the blade through the attacker’s torso - or so he thought. The moment the blade touched the blue armor, the figure flickered out of existence. 

“Wha-?” Akira started, and ducked just before he got his head separated from its rightful place on his shoulders as Hunk’s battle axe swung over him.

“Sorry!” Hunk fretted, lowering the blade once he regained his balance. 

Akira gave a quick nod to acknowledge his apology, but his mind was elsewhere. Ideas and thoughts were swirling in his head like fruit in a smoothie, and being just as loud and annoying. “Where did he go?” He muttered, the words coming out more like a growl than a question.

“He? How do you know it was a guy?” Hunk asked, which was only getting on Akira’s nerves.

“Are you seriously worried about that right now?” Akira hissed at him. “We have other things to worry about. Like the fact that there’s a guy trying to kill us, and Leandro is injured, and it’s still daytime and the cops could find us at any moment, and-” He cut off, a realization clicking in his brain. He hadn’t gone to check on Leandro. Some boyfriend he was. 

In an instant, he was crouching next to the hazelnut-skinned, bloody mess that lay in front of the now dented garbage bin. Leandro’s leather jacket and favorite shirt were torn and darkened with blood where the blade had traveled up his back, and his shoulder was turning blue from it’s solid collision with the garbage bin. 

“Ouch,” Katie whistled as she cautiously approached them, crouching down next to Akira’s right side, as Hunk had taken the left. “That’s gotta hurt.”

“No kidding,” Akira snapped at her as he carefully removed the jacket and the shirt from the limp body in front of him. Leandro was alive, Akira had checked his pulse, but he’d taken a blow to the head and was out for the moment. “Anyone have bandages?”

“Anyone seen Allura?” Hunk asked as Katie handed Akira a first aid kit from her bag. Akira was about to snap at him too, but the realization that their blonde friend wasn’t there washed over him like a bucket of ice water. He was right - she wasn’t there. The last time he was aware of her presence was just before their attacker first took a swing at Katie.

“Did she bail on us?” Katie frowned, a light of betrayal glossing her honey eyes. “If she left us to die, I swear I will-”

“I’m sure she didn’t leave us to die. If she had, why would she have done it just before the attacker came?” Hunk pointed out, but all it did was strengthen the opposing argument. Hunk, Akira decided, would make a terrible lawyer.

“Because she may be allied with our mysterious attacker, and was waiting for this moment to get away. She may we waiting it the shadows of the alley for us to die, and once we are dead will take our supplies and make a run for it,” Akira replied calmly, his voice taking on a hint of anger as it raised. He slowly wrapped Leandro up in bandages, hoping it would be enough for them to get to the junkyard and back without a problem.

“That’s… a justifiable argument,” Hunk lowered his head in acknowledgement, focusing his chocolate gaze on Leandro’s tousled, messy brown hair. “I just don’t wanna believe it, you know? Allura is one of the nicest people I ever met, and-”

“WHAT THE QUIZNAK?” Katie shouted, making the other two boys whirl around in surprise to follow her wide-eyed gaze. Their attacker was behind them again, and the sharp, serrated blade held by the gloved hand was tinted with red stains. Leandro’s blood, Akira realized as a knot formed in his throat. Their attacker was back, and they were about to die.

The figure stalked forward, the blue and orange glow of the assailant’s suit staining Akira’s vision. He wanted to do something. He needed to do something. But if he reached for his dagger, which was on the ground next to him, the attacker could easily charge forward and kill him first. Same with Hunk and Katie, and maybe even Leandro. Any movement would trigger immediate death. Akira could feel his eyes glossing over with tears that he forbid from falling. This was it, the death of the Cyberpunks. The the death of Leakira, the formerly unstoppable duo, the two-

Akira’s thoughts were cut off by the sound of flying projectiles.

Shhhick!

Shhhick!

The darts hit their mark, the soft spot in the armor of their attacker- the neck just below the jaw line. The attacker shook violently as the darts sent electromagnetic pulses through the unsuspecting victim, and the figure collapsed with a sickening thud.

“Who…?” Katie started, and was cut off as a familiar blonde-haired assassin holding a dart gun jumped down from a fire escape stairwell that Akira had forgotten existed during the chaos of the ambush. 

“Stop staring and move!” The woman hissed, irritation sticking to her words like glue. “And you’re welcome. No, I am not partnered with… whoever this is,” she looked down at the limp figure on the ground, her nose wrinkling in disgust. “We have ten minutes until the effects of the dart wear off.”

“That’s more than enough time,” Akira said as he stood, struggling to lift Leandro up. “Just glad you didn’t betray us.”

“I knew she wouldn’t betray us!” Hunk grinned, taking Leandro from Akira, easily hefting him over his shoulder. Akira frowned, but he was grateful that Hunk was stronger than him. Leandro’s skinny build was deceptive, because he weighed a ton.

Allura, who had taken the lead, stealthily moved through the slowly-darkening passages between buildings, followed closely by Katie and Hunk, Akira bringing up the rear. As expected, the sewer entrance was a block and a half away, and there was no further trouble before they got there. Akira held Leandro in his arms as Hunk knelt down to heft the manhole lid away from its place in the ground, and one by one they each entered the sewer, Leandro being passed along to Katie and Allura so Akira could get down. Hunk made his way down last, closing the manhole as he went.

The sewers smelled terrible, as sewers should. The best way to describe the odor was if someone took year-old fish, mold equipped with an amplifier, and really smelly vomit, threw it all into a blender with spoiled milk, ground it together, and dumped it into a lake of urine, this was the result. The way it looked wasn’t far from that description either. Sludgy water couldn’t describe the murky brown slop that flowed past them in the direction they were headed. Just thinking about what could possibly be in there to make it brown and goopy made Akira gag, and Hunk down-right vomited. 

“Nice,” Katie groaned, waving her hand in front of her scrunched-up face. “Oh my lord, Hunk, that made this place smell worse than it already did.”

“Sorry,” Hunk mumbled weakly, holding his stomach. “The smell makes me queasy.”

“No kidding,” Katie coughed. 

“Enough,” Allura snapped, silencing Katie before she could continue complaining. “We have three problems at hand. We have unknown enemies after us, we need to get to the junkyard before nightfall to allow Akira and Leandro to get back home safely, and regarding Leandro,” she pointed a graceful, unaccusing but stern finger at the still-unconscious boy in Akira’s arms, “he’s in an unstable condition, and we need to fix that.”

“Let’s move away from the entrance before taking care of that. Maybe we can hold off until we get to the underground tunnels before addressing his injury? This place is so ridden with bacteria that he’s going to get an infection just by having the wound exposed.” Akira looked to Allura somewhat pleadingly. He didn’t want the giant slice across Leandro’s back to get infected, which could lead to several different horrifyingly terrible outcomes, none of which Akira wanted to focus on at the moment.

Allura paused, which sparked a flare of anger in Akira, but it settled as she nodded in agreement. “Fine. We’ll address the issue once we enter the tunnel. But it will slow us down.”

“No he won’t. Right, Hunk?” Akira turned to his now less-green-skinned friend, who’d made his way to stand beside him and Allura. 

“Yeah, totally.” Hunk’s voice wavered, probably still recovering from getting sick. Akira could sympathize.

“Let’s get moving before we waste any more time than we already have. It’s already five, sun goes down in an hour,” Katie sniffed as she barged ahead. “At the rate we’re going, we’ll get there by midnight.”

Akira huffed as Hunk took hold of Leandro again, a sigh of relief escaping his lips as the weight was lifted from his arms. Jeez, Leandro was heavy. 

Footsteps echoed through the tunnels as they made their way down the sewer tunnels, pausing occasionally for Hunk to puke or Akira to check the maps. Akira sighed as they made their way around a curve in the tunnels, and nothing appearing on the other side. This trip was turning out to be a lot less exciting than he’d thought. He imagined a police chase, or an ambush at every turn. Not that he was trying to get killed or anything, but walking through a seemingly endless tunnel filled with stinky slop was pretty boring. Their noses had even gotten used to the stench - well, all but Hunk’s. He continued to vomit due to overexposure to the putrid odor approximately every five minutes of walking. As much fun as that was, it wasn’t very exciting. 

Akira frowned at Hunk’s back as the poor guy leaned over the ledge of the walkway and retched into the gloopy river. Yeah, definitely not exciting, Akira decided.

“Wow, what a wakeup call. I’m guessing we’re in the sewers now?” A quiet, shaky voice asked.

Akira jumped in surprised, almost dropping the body in his arms, tired yet vibrant blue eyes staring up at wide violet. “Leandro?” Akira whispered, his voice barely audible, even with the lack of surrounding sounds.

“Good morning, _mi amor_ ,” Leandro managed a half-smile, exhaustion and pain pinning his lips in a neutral expression. “My back hurts.”

Akira tried not to laugh. “No, duh. Do you remember what happened before you blacked out?”

“Ah,” he sighed, “yeah, I remember. We were attacked by a mystery man and I got my back sliced open like jello.” Leandro let his head go limp, groaning dramatically. “My head hurts… And my back hurts. Can you put me down? Your arm is bugging my back.”

“O-oh, sorry. Can you stand?” Akira frowned, looking down at the pain-ridden, freckle-covered face of his best friend and partner. “If your head hurts, then you might-”

“Jeepers, Akira, just put me on my feet and stop worrying. If I fall, you’re right here, right?” Leandro flashed him a smirk, which was more than enough to make Akira give in with a sigh. 

“Uh, what do you think you’re doing?” Honey eyes met violet and blue as Katie stood before them, thin arms folded across her chest, disapproval glazed over her expression. 

“Akira’s putting me down because he’s hurting my back,” Leandro answered, meeting Katie’s eyes with a challenge of his own, as if daring her to keep fighting. 

Akira winced awkwardly as both Leandro and Katie turned to stare at him, expecting him to make the final judgement. Personally, he wanted to put Leandro down, not only because he was aggravating Leandro’s injury, but also because Leandro was heavy. Akira’s muscles were screaming at him to relieve them of the weight they bore, and his head was demanding he stop hurting the boy in his arms. He sighed as he made his decision, and flinched the moment Katie started screaming at him about making a stupid decision. Leandro, on the other hand, seemed more than relieved. 

“Ooooh, this feels so much better.” Leandro let out a massive sigh as Akira removed his arm from its place on his back, quickly moving his grip to Leandro’s shoulder and arm as the already-frail-looking figure wobbled unsteadily. 

“You good?” Akira asked as Leandro swallowed, taking in the rather abhorrent surroundings. Leandro stumbled as the stench of the sewer sludge delivered a blow to his senses, and Akira caught him as he tripped on his unsteady feet.

“Y-yeah, I’m good,” Leandro answered, his voice strained by the blow. “It _really_ smells bad down here.”

“Yeah, no kidding. It’s a sewer tunnel,” Akira chuckled. Now was not the time to be goofing around, he knew that, and he could practically feel Katie getting ready to inform him of the obvious. But nonetheless, he was more than relieved that Leandro was okay, and it made him a little more lenient to the fact that time was short. 

Katie, as Akira had expected, had put her hands on her hips and stood before the two of them, glaring pointedly at Akira. “Of all people, I’d expect you to be the last one to goof off. We don’t have time for this! And don’t you roll your eyes at me,” she added as Akira rolled his eyes with a heavy sigh, “you know that the sun sets in less than an hour and-”

“Shh!” Allura cut her off, startling the rest of them as she looked back in the direction they’d already come. 

“What’s wrong?” Akira asked in a more hushed voice, his brow furrowing as Allura narrowed her eyes and drew a throwing knife from her belt pocket. 

“We were followed,” the answer came, slicing through the hope the group held that the rest of the trip would be smooth, at least until they reached the old tunnel. 

As if on command, a throwing knife sliced through the air, a hushed whistle closely following in its wake. A soft metallic thunk echoed for a moment as the knife collided with the metal wall of the sewer tunnel. All heads turned to face the direction from where the blade had come from, the sound of thudding footsteps ringing against the rushing of murky water as danger came ever closer down the caverns.

“Let’s move!” Katie practically screamed, and no one had any problems following her words as they all turned on their heels and sprinted down the tunnel, Hunk quickly scooping Leandro who wasn’t able to run just yet.

Heavy breaths and loud footsteps rang through the tunnel as the five of them quickly advanced forward, the distant sound of graceful steps following them as they ran. Akira opened up the map, his eyes racing over the holographic plane hurriedly. 

“The entrance is just around this bend in the tunnel!” Akira called to the rest of them, stumbling as he flicked off the hologram and ducked at the same time as another throwing knife raced over his head.

“Well don’t announce that to the enemy!” Katie shouted back, sliding on the slippery floor that rounded the corner, Allura coming to her aid and steadying her before she could crash into the wall or fall into the flowing sludge. 

“They’re getting closer!” Hunk fretted, his large feet pounding against the metal floor, nearly drowning the sound of footsteps growing louder behind them.

“Do not drop me into that stuff!” Leandro practically squealed, squirming in Hunk’s arms as Hunk rounded the bend, getting dangerously close to the edge of the platform.

Akira skidded to a stop in front of a large, sealed circular entrance, an old number lock beside it. “Heck, this is so old, it uses a number lock! Katie, can you get through?” He asked, turning back to look at the golden-haired italian that squatted beside him, examining the lock. 

“I should be able to bypass it easily, yeah, but I’ll need a minute to access the wires and coding,” she answered, tapping the lock. 

“That, we can give you.” Akira answered, drawing his knife and activating the blade. “I don’t know for how long, though, so try to be quick?”

“Aye aye, cap’n,” she answered, her voice more of a mumble as she set to work, using a strange tool to pry the padlock’s cover open.

“You stay here,” Hunk told Leandro as he placed the skinny boy on his feet, waiting until he seemed steady enough before stepping away. “And don’t try to help us.”

“But-” Leandro started, quickly cut off by Akira shaking his head defiantly. 

“Nope. You are in no condition to fight. You’re going to wait here until Katie opens the entrance to the war tunnels, got it?” His voice was steady and stern, and Leandro closed his mouth, choosing to swallow his retort rather than make things difficult, to Akira’s relief.

With a nod to Leandro the Katie - who didn’t show any sign of noticing - Akira followed Allura and Hunk back around the corner, pressing the button to extend the blade of the knife. Allura had drawn hand-blades, and had his glowing battle axe again. The sound of footsteps before them slowed as a figure came into view, the same oddly-armored attacker from before. The figure stopped, standing several yards away from the line they’d made, and seemed to silently stare at them. Akira gladly stared back. The longer they just stood like this, the more time Katie had to open the lock, and the safer Leandro was. 

To his dismay, the staring contest didn’t last. Apparently Hunk was still angry about Leandro’s injury, as the large, muscular African charged at the enemy full-force, swinging the axe with what seemed like all his strength. The armored figure easily ducked under the blow, twirling around and landing a solid kick to Hunk’s back, sending him stumbling forward with the force in addition to the friction created by his swing.

The next target was Allura. The attacker obviously recognized her as a threat, and wanted to eliminate that threat before the situation could reverse. The attacker swung a knife at Allura, jumping over the leg she’d kicked out as she ducked under the knife. While the attacker landed where Allura had been before, Allura had slid out from under the armored figure and fired a dart from her wrist shooter. The needle harmlessly bounced off of the armor, and as the attacker lounged for Allura, Akira stepped in, swinging his sword, cutting off the attack, and allowing Allura a moment to back up and gather herself again.

The attacker whirled around, aiming the attack they’d planned for Allura at Akira, the all-too familiar knife slicing through the air inches away from his nose. As the attacker regained a sense of balance, Allura moved in to attack, swiping a bladed fist at the assailant’s face, followed quickly by a swipe to the chest, and one more to the arm. The third strike scratched the surface of the armor, the high-pitched shriek of metal-on-metal ringing in Akira’s ears as the blade cut out a small, yet existent dent in the formerly flawless armor. The attacker, seemingly outraged, landed a solid punch to Allura’s stomach, and proceeded to grab Allura by the shoulder and waist, rocketing her into Hunk, who lay against the wall. Two loud grunts were taken from their lungs as they collided, and Akira was left alone against the unknown assailant. 

_Perfect._ Just him and… whoever this was. Akira lifted his sword in defense as the attacker calmly turned to face him, the eyes of the person behind the mask meeting his own. Akira understood message clear as day; the attacker demanded he surrender. Akira didn’t mind disappointing the attacker, as he had no intention of doing so. Allura and Hunk were injured and piled on top of each other against the wall, Katie was depending on him for time, and Leandro had a giant slice across his back, which could become a critical issue. 

“If you think I’d surrender,” Akira scoffed, his gaze evenly meeting the attacker’s mask, “you are more than wrong. I will fight for my friends until death.”

“Then death it shall be,” came the raspy, disoriented reply, which shocked Akira. He wasn’t expecting a sudden voice to come from the attacker. He also wasn’t expecting the attacker to draw a blaster, holding it up and aiming it for Akira’s chest. 

Shock crossed his face as he watched the metal glint in the dim light of the tunnel, reflecting in the visor of the masked assailant, who watched his panic with no mercy. Akira shut his eyes tight. He was about to die. His entire life, washed away like a bottle in the sea. But he wouldn’t go without regrets, of which there was only one:

He never got to tell Leandro goodbye.

With the sound of the shot, it would be too late. With the pain of death, he would never get the chance. His eyes watered as the regret in his heart spilled into pools, threatening to overflow. 

And then came the shot of the blaster. The ear-splitting bang cracked open the silence that had befallen the sewer tunnel, and a loud, pained gasp escaped his throat.

It was then he realized that the gasp was not his own. He had inhaled sharply, yes, but there was no pain flaring in his chest, no blood spilling out of his heart. Akira peeled his eyes open, which instantly widened completely as they befell the sight of the attacker, staring at their hand, covered in red liquid, which was spilling rapidly from a piercing in the armor’s side. That was no blaster wound, that was a bullet wound. There was only one person he know of who used real bullets in emergencies.

Akira whirled around, and his widened more than physically possible as his gaze came to rest on the crippled, barely-standing figure of none other than the best shooter he knew. 

And then, with a sickening thud, the shooter was standing no longer.

\------

“What do you mean, they’re _gone_?” His voice hissed, echoing in the quiet, spacious room of the abandoned apartment building.

“The Garrison has searched every alleyway, street, and building they can access legally. They found the base, an old factory on 79th and Crownwell,” the secretary read off of the papers on her clipboard, “or they suspect as such, as the building was burning when the targets disappeared.”

“Miss Cortez, need I remind you that you are the secretary of the President of the State of New York? That you are second in command to the most powerful figure in the State?” His voice was low, relishing the realization that crossed his assistant’s face. “You have so much power at your fingertips, yet you fail to grasp hold of it. The Garrison listens to its superiors. The President is away from the office for his speech at the convention, all that power is yours to command.”

“W-what do you suggest I do?” She stammered, taken aback by the sudden encouragement the Overlord never showed her.

“I want you to access any security cameras you can, and get the Garrison to search beyond the streets.” He said in a calm tone, his hard gaze fixated on his assistant’s. “Find these criminals, and bring them to a swift end.”

She stared back at him, shaken by the praise and attention she was being shown, and quickly nodded in acknowledgment. “Y-yes Sir. Um, there were also sightings of someone else, who hasn’t been identified, but the subject wore armor similar to that of the New York Defense Force, although it wasn’t any color scheme or design the Garrison or NYDF recognizes.” She outstretched her arm, a blurry picture printed onto the slip of paper she held.

He removed it from her grasp, holding it before him and studying the figure shown in the picture. Gray, blue, and orange armor in a design he himself didn’t recognize. “Where was this taken?”

“A security camera in an alley splitting from 80th Street, meeting up with the alley parallel to Jackson, just South of the parade.” 

He studied the picture a little more, squinting his eyes behind the steel mask to focus on details. A gear clicked in his mind as his eyes came to rest on the orange symbol on the breastplate of the armor, the symbol darkened, blurry, and partially hidden behind one of the figure’s arms. However, the symbol was still recognizable. 

He knew exactly who was after his targets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I am so sorry about the wait! I've had a crazy past few weeks, trying to get my life together with a sudden business offer crisis, the beginning of second semester and new advanced classes that take a lot of extra time I use for writing out of my week, and a lot of other craziness. I'm probably going to have to extend the span of time between each chapter to two weeks rather than one, but we'll see what I can do. I managed to finish this chapter at long last, and here is some of that excitement you've been waiting for! Don't worry, Akira feels your pain <3
> 
> I want to thank all of you for being patient with me, I promise that this is only the beginning, and there is so much more to come! I'm not sure how long this story is going to get, but it's definitely going to be more than 20 chapters. 
> 
> I look forward to hearing from you! You're support keeps me going, and I promise to get the next chapter out in the next two weeks.


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